Hey Everyone,
This is a pulse cannon I have been working on lately

I would appreciate any comments that would help it look better been having a bit of a problem with the spec.
Poly count is 8596 (high I know but I wanted to keep a lot of the geometry in so it can be viewed up close as well). Its based on this concept

can we get some highpoly,maps and information on your workflow?

love the design

This is great. It has some cools shapes and flow right right away. Personal preference would want a touch more of color somewhere. i see some parts as flat grey, I'm guessing untextured?

The concept has a touch of blue to the major pieces, that could be something to add. As for spec, especially for sci fi pieces, there is a good deal of tweaking and refining, but you could also add in some reflectivity to it. I know UDk has stuff for DX11 reflections.

Looking at concept again, it's a tad bid wide (i think) and long, however, it gives a nicer, sleeker look to it. Not so bulky or cumbersome.

And yeah, I wanna see how you made this, your process, your approach, something great like this without any sort of explanation is just a big tease.

The process was pretty straight on - all the modeling and baking of the normal maps was done in Maya. I cleaned up the baked normal maps in Photoshop and added some of the minor details (lines and such). Texturing and specular maps done in Photoshop with contribution from crazybump
This is a screen shot of the hipoly model

And the low poly model after I finished cleaning up the normal maps and adding some normal details.

Butthair - Its all textures but I guess I got some wrong - what parts look untextured? . I tried to stick to the color pallet of the concept as much as I could. The blue it has there is from the lights not really the texture. I tried to recreate it but I cant seem to get it to come through properly in marmoset. I hope the new pictures I put up would explain my work process better...

I think the blue coloration in the concept is supposed to be part of the texture, not the lighting. Right now all you have is gray. Some blues would be nice.

ahh i remember this from DA and i asked to c ur wirez

needs tape on the grip and big yellow diagonal lines on it

I suppose it is the spec then, but the "nozzles" (?) of the gun (where stuff comes out) are just grey, the concept adds a bit of detail to it with some extra lines ringing around them (in addition to highlights from the metal).

You have a point about the lighting being blue, not the texture too. All the metal parts hace a sort of cool hue to them, which could indeed be light interacting with the metal components, while keeping the grip and non-metal components a more matte grey. (Such as multi-layered materials like a car or coated metals.) In either case, I would, add a hint of gray-blue to it, it suits me better, personally. Completely up to you though.

On another note, looking at the concept more, the multiple displays it has slightly change in greyscale. The circular disk things, near the front (with the "nozzles") are the same hue and saturation as the rest in the main shot, but in the lower left front view, they are lighter.

Lastly, it is a concept. One's idea. I'd like to see this with a bit of your own touch to it, nothing heavy duty, but you know, something that makes it even cooler, one of those "you know what it's missing? This." kind of touches. Maybe?

Originally Posted by n88tr

needs tape on the grip and big yellow diagonal lines on it

Yes. This is what I was thinking as well. Otherwise, dead on with the form and overall detailing.

Originally Posted by n88tr

needs tape on the grip and big yellow diagonal lines on it

tape? Why? Yellow? I don't think so...

ick, yeah no tape and yellow caution lines. They don't belong on a sleek weapon.

I think what others are getting at, and I agree with, is that right now it looks like its all the same material.

The whole weapon is one big block of "Future Metal" Some of it is likely the spec map treatment, but a lot of it is sameness of hue. Try making the stock look like its carbon fibre. Make the butt of the gun have a but of a rubbery look to it, like you might actually be able to cradle it against your shoulder. Shine up the nozzle bits a bit, like they are in the concept. Make the screws out of a different metal, like maybe an anodized steel or something (closer to black with some grit to the texture)

I also second the call for the cooler blueish tint from the concept on the FutureMetal parts of the weapon. It will make a nice contrast from the warmer greys and browns you have already.

I have made some changes to the texture and the specular. I tried to show the different materials from the handle to the body of the weapon. I did want the whole body to be the same metal though.

What are you rendering/presenting in?

Its definitely more visually interesting now, though I'm curious to know what options you have for overall shader quality. One thing I really liked from the concept was the polished steel to near chrome look on the assorted barrels and what I take to be the ammo canister on the side.

I am using Marmoset - attached is my final version. At this point I cant even look at it anymore

Looks much nicer than the previous one. It has those hotter highlights that the previous was missing. I see the differentiation more between metal and the grip stuff, much nicer of a pop.

You did a really nice job on this, I dig the specular effects as well, that's a nice touch to the texture feel.

I know you don't want to work on this anymore, polishing was never a fun stage for me either, and this suggestion has nothing to do with the model. I only have an issue that the pres sheet it is on does not do it justice to how awesome this gun is. I'm glad it isn't white, that subtle blue is really nice, but I feel it is still missing the love a pres sheet should get. Especially for something that is this great.

Press sheet? sorry never heard the term before Is this what you mean? I did finish it off a few days ago but forgot to upload it here...CFL Grey Cup weekend and all


By graylen at 2011-11-28

By graylen at 2011-11-28