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23 swords

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polycounter lvl 9
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le0tard polycounter lvl 9
As foundation for my newest "Imma learn to 3d!"- project, I found this picture:

1_handed_swords_by_kozivara-d4il7f3.jpg

And I will try to make a 3d- version of all of them. Any critique welcome!
I will try as much as possible to limit the polycount, and the models will only have one diffuse map (though normal and/or specular etc. can be done upon request).

The original concepts are not made by me. Cred to some guy Kozivara on deviantArt.

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  • le0tard
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    le0tard polycounter lvl 9
    The first sword:

    2h8ai2q.jpg
  • le0tard
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    le0tard polycounter lvl 9
  • le0tard
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    le0tard polycounter lvl 9
  • le0tard
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    le0tard polycounter lvl 9
  • Nuclear Angel
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    Nuclear Angel polycounter
    I like that you are committed to do all of these swords, and you are coming along nicely. Maybe a darker background for the presentations of every sword would be nice so that the highlights can be better seen. Also a wireframe shot on each sword would be good.

    But I think that you can up the contrast on each of your swords. And also get in more color variations in to your texture work to make it all pop more. right now your textures are a bit boring, you can get in a lot more color in there. Like for example the number 4 concept has a lot more blue in it than your finished sword has.

    But great commitment, good luck with the rest of your swords.
  • alifarsangi
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    alifarsangi polycounter lvl 9
    great work dude ! i agree with Nuclear Angel. i think its worth to spend a bit more time to provide a better presentation. u can also put a cleaner texture and wires in ur presentations

    i think u can also use uv space in a bit more efficient way, rather than pack main blade of sword vertically. u can rotate it 45 degree then put in center, something like this
  • AshuraDX
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    AshuraDX triangle
    these look great !
    I love handpainted textures

    but I have to agree with alifarsangi on the UV space
    instead of rotating your blade by 45° in UV space you could also do what I do :
    I usually use 2:1 scaled texturemaps for swords, so something like 2048*1024
  • Heather.Hughes
    I have to agree with the others about presentation and trying to use the UV space better.

    That said, you're matching the concepts pretty well and your hand painting is very clean. :)

    I might also have to save that image of the concepts... There are quite a few of those I'd love to try making myself at some point. :P
  • Joao Sapiro
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    Joao Sapiro sublime tool
    great work dude ! i agree with Nuclear Angel. i think its worth to spend a bit more time to provide a better presentation. u can also put a cleaner texture and wires in ur presentations

    i think u can also use uv space in a bit more efficient way, rather than pack main blade of sword vertically. u can rotate it 45 degree then put in center, something like this

    i wouldnt rotate the uvws like that , simply make the texture a 1024x512 ? less wastefull. or pack all the swords into 1 texture sheet.
  • le0tard
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    le0tard polycounter lvl 9
    Thank you all for the feedback! I always wuss out with color variations, but I'll try to up the ante! Also, I've never done a rectangular UV map before, but I can see why that would be an improvement on the optimization. Next sword (coming soon) will include a wireframe too.
  • le0tard
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    le0tard polycounter lvl 9
    #5 ready, and I've tried as much as possible to follow your advice. I cheated with the colour picking tool in photoshop to ensure that the colours are not to desaturated. The UV map is also more optimized now, as pictured.2z3rsdj.jpg
  • Dethling
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    Dethling polycounter lvl 11
    Really nice & clean, also a great improvement from the first to the last one
  • le0tard
  • mjeruzal
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    mjeruzal polycounter lvl 5
    I have no experience in hand painted stuff but IMO these swords are looking too flat and dull. The best one so far is #5 cause at least crossguard is making sense. First of all, you need more highlights with lot of contrast - what you have now is simple low-range gradient all over the blade and lighter lines along edges - it doesn't work at all. Also add some shining spots. Second thing to mention is lack of shading, take a look at the grip, when you are looking at it on screenshot it looks really flat despite you make the middle lighter. This gradient is too soft and not really noticeable on 3d model.
    Check this one: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showpost.php?p=1612612&postcount=21
    Blade is some kind of dark material but highlights on edges are way lighter and give it effect of metalness, also the soft brush shine at the tip of the blade, on the edge and guard helps a lot. As for the shading, look at the grip - it's way lighter on the side and darker on the top and bottom - it even looks like a seam through mirrored mesh (but despite that it's not that annoying).
    I'm not native english speaker so if something isn't clear don't hesitate to ask :)
  • le0tard
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    le0tard polycounter lvl 9
    #6 done. It's taking me some time between posts, but as you can tell, this isn't my day job.

    24d4oqu.jpg
  • CandyStripes05
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    CandyStripes05 polycounter lvl 9
    for someone who titled this project "Imma learn to 3d!" you sure did make a pretty nice looking skull!

    but looking through the eye sockets it looks like your next focus should be on poly flow and optimization, your other swords have quite a bit of unneeded edge loops

    *sorry if someone else already said any of this, didn't have time to read it all
  • pmiller001
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    pmiller001 greentooth
    You should adjust the hues on these swords to give them some depth. Making things light by making them white isnt exactly going to cut it.
    Your coloring is mad clean though, so that shouldnt be a problem at all.
  • IceWolve
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    IceWolve polycounter lvl 18
    I agree with candy stripes05, i feel like there is a lot of wasted polies, and that some of those details could simply be textured in there. That is a very nice concept and i feel tempted to model them as well!
  • mrgesy
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    mrgesy polycounter lvl 7
    Going well so far.
    Looking at your painted handles, I can't help but notice that you might have an ugly seam in the middle of the handle that you're not showing us. You could clean the seam by offsetting each half of the handle UVs and painting over them.

    Also try using masks to ensure a clean texture sheet. :)
  • le0tard
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    le0tard polycounter lvl 9
    Thank you alla again for the feedback, I will try to be more restrictive with the polys.
    If anyone would care to elaborate on the comment "adjust the hues on these swords to give them some depth", I would appreciate it! Like, how do I achieve depth with hue?

    Next sword will include a tricount and side- view, so you can get a proper look at the seams!
  • le0tard
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    le0tard polycounter lvl 9
    #8
    I hope this includes everything you need for a proper judgement. I tried to restict my polygons this time.
    2r4movl.jpg
  • Odow
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    Odow polycounter lvl 8
    I like how we really see your improvement ! :)

    However you really have issue with the number of poly.

    Hope this help, red lien are completely useless edgeloop that serve 0 purpose i don't even know why you put them. Some of them have really small almost invisible variation, it's useless in handpaint low poly. The orange one is edge loop you don't need but you have to move the other to make it look better. also you don'T need 14sides cylinder to do a circle form, 6-8 is more then enough, 10-12 if it's really a big visible circle.

    RbYEPXC.png
  • pigart
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    pigart polycounter lvl 6
    You should really add more color variation like more blue in the dark shadows and yellow/red in the light ares.
  • CandyStripes05
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    CandyStripes05 polycounter lvl 9
    Odow wrote: »
    RbYEPXC.png

    I wouldn't go as far as saying all those are useless, the bottom of the blade ones serve a purpose for the silhouette and this day of age a little bit more sides on a cylinder isn't a huge deal especially on a weapon which is usually a "hero" prop of sorts (it also depends on what platforms, for mobile I guess the lower option would be ideal)

    But Odow does point out a lot of pointless edge loops, if it doesn't add to the silhouette get rid of it.
  • le0tard
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    le0tard polycounter lvl 9
    Odow wrote: »
    Hope this help, red lien are completely useless edgeloop that serve 0 purpose i don't even know why you put them.

    Some of those edges are leftovers from before i applied the mirror, and forgot to remove. And other edges are there because I wanted the UV- shells to be separated for different materials, etc. but alot of what you marked as unnecessary are edgeloops that are important to the over all shape. Like the lower part of the blades. Can I remove those edges, and still keep the same silhouette? Otherwise I feel that the blades would just look like spikes or something.
  • JamesMeader
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    JamesMeader polycounter lvl 9
    Its a really cool idea what you're doing.
    The one thing I think you need to push like what everyone else seems to mentioning is variations in colour, deeper variations in hue and saturation as well as more attention in getting highlights in the changes of surfaces to stop it from looking too flat.
    I agree with what pigart also.
    Keep going and good luck.
  • Odow
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    Odow polycounter lvl 8
    sSk8Chr.jpg

    Removing 1 edge loop make it look the same, removing 2 edge loop change the curve but it still read nice as a sword, none of that make it look like crap or ruin the weapon , after that it's just a matter of limitation and preference.
  • Shrike
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    Shrike interpolator
    Odow wrote: »
    also you don'T need 14sides cylinder to do a circle form, 6-8 is more then enough, 10-12 if it's really a big visible circle.

    not if you are not intending to do a good looking model or proper bake : P

    have to disagree there, 6( 8 )sides are no circle, thats a hexagon and you would be better off defining it as such one instead of trying to make it something it isnt. Cant argue with uneeded edge loops of course, but from an artistic standpoint its a sin to remove those loops from the front blade edge, that curve is the most important defining element of every real sword (bullet, rocket, and similar objects) and very minor inaccuracies in such a curve can make or break a similarity towards a reference

    id even put more on that ring, the sword has tons of budget left and i dont understand why people always connect hand-painted with 2005 silhouettes

    Nice proress on the swords man , although some look a lot nicer than others texturing wise, the one with yellow gradient is my favourite id say
  • Odow
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    Odow polycounter lvl 8
    I don't agree at all, look at this weapon. all the round side have around 2-4 sides and it look wonderful,there's no need to add tones of sides, and those form are way bigger than the 14 sides pommel on leotard sword.
  • Justin Meisse
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    Justin Meisse polycounter lvl 18
    Shrike wrote: »
    id even put more on that ring, the sword has tons of budget left and i dont understand why people always connect hand-painted with 2005 silhouettes

    Mostly because those are the specs I've had to hit, it's been even lower on mobile.
  • Shrike
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    Shrike interpolator
    that part was kind of a rant : P didnt want to poke at anyone, people doing nice stuff, it just often it feels like general consensus is that handpainted has to come as byproduct of performance saving and can not stand on its own

    well i just wanted to avoid leo to cut in visual quality of his art for no reason, nothing is uglier imo than a hexagon disguised as a circle : P
  • Trevor
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    Trevor polycounter lvl 4
    Looking good! I can see your work evolving steadily with each sword. Your materials are very mute across the board. You have plenty of room to push your lights, darks and give the metals some nice sharp highlights. Dont be afraid to give the leather some more contrast as well. I personally like sword #5 the best. Your use of gradients, color, and highlights are very good. With a little more work, sword #5 would look like something you got off a boss in WOW, but thats just my opinion.
    Take another look at your reference picture. if you zoom in you can see even the cleanest blade has some color variation.
    Now about your use of geometry. You need to use less of it. The models only need enough geometry to maintain the silhouette since your are not baking any maps from a high poly.
  • le0tard
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    le0tard polycounter lvl 9
    kirkos wrote: »
    Not sure if anyone has pointed this out yet but you have 2 N-Gons I put red dots on the Faces with more than 4 sides. There is a way to check for N-Gons using the Select by Numeric Tool in 3DS Max.

    Thank you for posting your virginity in my thread then :)
    And this was the first time I've ever heard the term N-gon, so I had to google it, since I'm a noob. But right you are! I am using blender, but im sure there is an option for it in there too.
  • jinn15
    hey leo, great job on the swords!! i really dig your commitment to learning 3d!! inspiring for me to keep on trucking as well
    i have to agree with the others with your number of polys though

    m6EtnPB.jpg

    i just copied your picture and made a low poly version, mind you i am no expert what so ever but yea this is about how i would do it, could still optimize more, depending on what kind of game you are going for
    an important thing to keep in mind is the silhouette, so whenever possible, turn off all the lights and pretty much just look at it from the front and side view and if the shape reads then you're good

    i would also start thinking about a light source because as of right now it just looks like theres equal lighting everywhere

    heres a few resources i used when i was first learning to handpaint
    http://cgcookie.com/concept/page/6/
    legion commander

    hope this helps =) and keep up the good work!!
  • le0tard
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    le0tard polycounter lvl 9
    jinn15 wrote: »
    i just copied your picture and made a low poly version, mind you i am no expert what so ever but yea this is about how i would do it, could still optimize more, depending on what kind of game you are going for
    an important thing to keep in mind is the silhouette, so whenever possible, turn off all the lights and pretty much just look at it from the front and side view and if the shape reads then you're good

    Woa dude, thank you! Now I get it, that is one optimized mesh. I will use this picture as a reference for the coming swords as far as possible.

    And thank you for the tutorials too!
  • le0tard
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    le0tard polycounter lvl 9
    Here I break the continuity of the 23 swords to upload a revised version of the 1st sword, trying to apply what you guys have taught me so far!

    2hevd3d.jpg
  • pigart
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    pigart polycounter lvl 6
    Looks nicer. You got some more colors but I'd say it's still not enough. You just jabe some whites, greens, yellows and brown. Don't be afraid to add in some random colors and details.

    You can still lower the polycount. I modelled the sword too and got the tri count down to 256.
    fIgTOII.png
  • le0tard
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    le0tard polycounter lvl 9
    pigart wrote: »
    Looks nicer. You got some more colors but I'd say it's still not enough. You just jabe some whites, greens, yellows and brown. Don't be afraid to add in some random colors and details.

    You can still lower the polycount. I modelled the sword too and got the tri count down to 256.

    yea, your method was better. I wasted some polys on the middle- brass- part along the blade (and alot of other places too) cuz i wanted that part to be UV- mapped separately for the texture painting.
  • le0tard
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    le0tard polycounter lvl 9
    #9's ready! Wolf-dragon-rhino- sword.
    10pac1d.jpg
  • Odow
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    Odow polycounter lvl 8
    Yeah :D so much better!
  • DooDee
    That sword looks sexy as.
  • le0tard
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    le0tard polycounter lvl 9
    #10's up! polycount might be a bit high, but I'm quite pleased with the texture.2itj514.jpg
  • Lloth
    The metal spikey bits look really ace, but you can do better on the leather straps :D
  • le0tard
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    le0tard polycounter lvl 9
    Lloth wrote: »
    The metal spikey bits look really ace, but you can do better on the leather straps :D

    Any suggestions would be appreciated : )
  • DooDee
    Great progress with these. Only critique I can think of is the amount of n-gons I'm seeing in a few of the models. Might cause some complications if you plan on ever migrating these to an engine.
  • nickcomeau
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    nickcomeau polycounter lvl 4
    I would just push your colors in the straps. Get some darker browns in there and maybe some scattered highlights and also add some texture variation. It doesn't seem like a texture that would just be smooth. I think the issue is it just looks too uniform at this point. Hope that makes sense
  • HandSandwich
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    HandSandwich polycounter lvl 18
    Hey le0. Nice work. I think this last one could be pushed further and polished more, like # 9 was. Making the lighting a bit stronger and the materials easier to read could do a lot for it. You might want to add a span in the handle too just for some shape. I did a quick paintover to get across what I'm trying to say. Keep it up :)

    yjFpKH.gif
  • le0tard
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    le0tard polycounter lvl 9
    Hey le0. Nice work. I think this last one could be pushed further and polished more, like # 9 was. Making the lighting a bit stronger and the materials easier to read could do a lot for it. You might want to add a span in the handle too just for some shape. I did a quick paintover to get across what I'm trying to say. Keep it up :)

    Thank you for the reference, I will upload a revised version with this thing in mind!
  • PyrZern
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    PyrZern polycounter lvl 12
    Really inspiring and looks rly fun :P
    Keep going man. Your poly flow is looking much better already.
  • le0tard
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    le0tard polycounter lvl 9
    #11
    I try to refrain from using the colour picker tool in pchotoshop to sample the reference, but here I cheated. This was a hard one.
    wswjrt.jpg
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