[DS2] Axe, Rilem

Rilem · Feb 2012

I loved the first Darksiders and I'm super excited for Darksiders II.
I was just about to go to bed when I saw the challenge on the polycount front page. Going to bed was out of the question now, I had to at least do some silhouettes.

I'm going to start off with the dagger *cough* AXE and I'm going to try and finish it. On the last challenges I entered I somehow never finished. I'll stick to it this time!

I'll keep updating and restructuring this first post for convenient reading of the process.

concept phase:
mistake
Axe lines
Axe color:

Base modeling (maya)

Latest:

Sculptaur · Feb 2012

Hey bro, nice concept.

But, sorry to say, the contest is just for the Axe, Mace and Hammer. Or are you just doing the Dagger for fun?
"For this contest you will be creating a Mace, Axe, or Hammer that would fit in the world of Darksiders"

Habboi · Feb 2012

Regardless I hope you transfer the design to an axe. Also unless your thread is renamed it'll stick out which is very crafty of you ;>

Rilem · Feb 2012

SHIT

How the hell did that happen?

My mind is blown, where did I get the idea that it was dagger/axe/mace?

pffff... erm.. I guess I'll go for the axe then, thanks for the heads up!

Piflik · Mar 2012

That is one sweet concept. Sadly only heavy weapons, but I am sure you can make a even sweeter axe from this...maybe just ad the big, vertical blade on the right side at the handle, starting just below the small eye...

ShootandRun · Mar 2012

I really like the silhouettes you've made, can't wait to see this in axe form! Demonic weapons are my fav

adam · Mar 2012

**Title of thread changed to indicate you will be working on an Axe.

Rilem · Mar 2012

Thanks for the quick title edit Adam, I didn't even have to ask!

Can't wait for tonight, I feel like a noob for making that dagger so I'm burning to do that axe asap.

thepapercut · Mar 2012

Sick concept man. Best of luck

Di$array · Mar 2012

Well Rilem you have the base there. Just elongate the blade, do some fancy stuff where the handle use to be and then jam a pole on it. Then bob's your uncle.

Really nice concept. Shame really.

BoBo_the_seal · Mar 2012

really nice dagger! I'm looking forward to seeing it adapted for an Axe

- BoBo

JacqueChoi · Mar 2012

WoW! You definitely nailed it!

Rilem · Mar 2012

So here's what an axe should like like, no puny kitchen knives here:

lupi · Mar 2012

niiiiiceeee...:) best concept so far:) keep it up dude!

Habboi · Mar 2012

If your final model turns out like that I definitely think it's going to be one of the stronger pieces. Who knows though, time may reveal some lurkers

Good job.

Kurry · Mar 2012

Damn, thats a sexy concept ! Can't wait to see this bad boy in 3d.

zeroSlave · Mar 2012

Nice. I like the little eye looking up at the big eye. :poly128:

MissMaddyTaylor · Mar 2012

I think the axe looks awesome! I can't wait to see this in 3d

Shiv · Mar 2012

Dude, the dagger was nice and all, but damn, this axe. Beautiful!

leslievdb · Mar 2012

those are some nice fluid shapes.
Really digging these designs man

keep it up

Progg · Mar 2012

really nice conversion

0Hayes · Mar 2012

Haha, it drooped, love it. It translated really well into an axe, cant wait to see some colour down!

Obikenowan · Mar 2012

Looks a lil bit like Soul Edge ^^. But nice concept, hope to see it in color.

Lowpology · Mar 2012

Yeah I definitely get the Soul Edge look so I'd try and find some way to differ but man is this an awesome axe dude love it.

ageless · Mar 2012

WoW...super!!

Grimmstrom · Mar 2012

really like your concept. clean and easy to read

Rilem · Mar 2012

Thanks for all the positive comments, it's really motivating.

Added some color to the axe:

Di$array · Mar 2012

You've done a crackin' job on the concept mate. Looking forward to see this in 3D.

Daven · Mar 2012

Damn man, this is looking incredible. I'd love to see some different color schemes, maybe pulling more from the KOTD or demon palette, but it's looking amazing so far.

Maph · Mar 2012

Amazing work so far, but yeah; introduce some new colors and gradients. Keep going man!

BoBo_the_seal · Mar 2012

yes! Love this!

Jeff Parrott · Mar 2012

Chunkier!

Otherwise this is pretty nice.

ScoobyDoofus · Mar 2012

Soo much disgusting fun. Maybe some more colors/variation and a little brighter.

Rilem · Mar 2012

I'll definitely play with the colors, I want to get some purple in there to replace the greys I have now.

Heres a work in progress on the basemeshl:

I don't have much experience with high poly modeling and sculpting, I did do some basic sculpt doodles for fun though. Baking normals and doing retopo are going to be major learning experiences.

Royzy · Mar 2012

This. This looks fantastic. Really nice rendering on the concepts too. Will be monitoring the progress on this one

Fritzzz · Mar 2012

Looking good so far! You did a great job capturing the organic look of Demon weapons.

Keeping an eye on this thread

TaylorMouse · Mar 2012

Great Design, can't wait to see the 3D!!

T.

pulyx · Mar 2012

Looking real good man.

Rilem · Mar 2012

Did a quick blob-out:

I'll start refining and doing details later this day.

Rilem · Mar 2012

Some progress:

AJSALL · Mar 2012

simple and effective, I like it

Torch · Mar 2012

Very nice Rilem, this is really coming along

Rilem · Mar 2012

Thanks guys.

Some more progress:

Sitting at 1408 triangles now, including the spikes.

Rilem · Mar 2012

Normal map on there:

It needs some work. :poly142:

dirigible · Mar 2012

protip : harden the normals on the edge of the blade, and triangulate your mesh before baking. That'll get rid of 90% of your black errors on your normal map. Also make sure your green channel is correct. For maya, the green channel should look like your model is lit from ABOVE. For other things (udk, for instance) your green channel should look like your model is lit from BELOW.

Rilem · Mar 2012

Thanks for the tips man, you might have just saved me some time browsing the polycount wiki.

I'll give it a go tommorow

OrganizedChaos · Mar 2012

Just curious- was that your final sculpt? Seems like it could use a little more work- in particular, there doesnt seem to be any damage on the weapon.... also, did you change a few things? Some of the spikes look like they've been dulled down, as well as the notches on the handle.

Rilem · Mar 2012

You're right about the sculpt. I plan on reducing some of the blobbyness and making some more wear on the blade.

Colt3d · Mar 2012

One quick question about the normal baking, ive heard that the model should be triangulated before baking but the part i dont get is if one should triangulate the highres model , or the lowres model? or both? .. i would appreciate a quick explanation on this , Thx

Rilem · Mar 2012

From the polycount wiki

Before baking, it is usually best to triangulate the low-poly model, converting it from polygons into pure triangles. This prevents the vertex normals from being changed later on, which can create specular artifacts.

http://wiki.polycount.com/NormalMap

Colt3d · Mar 2012

Thanks a lot for the pointer Rilem

, altough more questions came to my mind after reading it

i hope you dont mind if ask it here, Once the mesh is triangulated its a permanent step? what happens if we need the quads again? also the triangulation process itself should be manual? (like manually flipping triangles or connecting edges) or automatically done by some tool in the modelling package?, again thanks a lot for the hints!

[DS2] Axe, Rilem

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