Model pimpage Thread

[plagueofburia]

I find the vertex lit and normal map lit topic interesting and helpful. I hope it will help me when I have to texture some of the more complex models.

I am working on multiple models at the moment_ac units_drains_ pipesets and combine walls, this is pipe set 2 now it has 6 skins A-F. If I can somehow export them in batches that would really be a big help as there seems to be more than 30-40 parts just for this pipeset. I also want this pipe_set(2) to be in various sizes.



Skin D


Skin E


Skin F


Bld1_drain


Bld1_Ac_unit


This is my most complex model I have yet attempted in blender, I am using the mirror modifier, this is suppose to be a striking contrast from the plaster wall to cold blue metal combine look.

This is the wall blocked out in hammer


Blender












Would anyone know the best way to texture a model like this? how would one break the model up? I am finding 20 layers is not enough in blender I need more but I guess 20 will have to do. There are no seams yet and I am using the mirror modifier. Perhaps I will attempt this combine wall using multiple texture sheets and then linking them up when exporting them, is that a good idea? At the moment this model is work in progress, It is still not complete, there are many parts, consisting of wires, lights, pipes, metal panels and pillars. These are the combine vertical versions I have some ideas for horizontal combine walls.

Any ideas or suggestions regarding the combine wall would be a great help

[Black_Stormy]

The best way to unwrap that monstrosity is slowly and meticulously. You can re-use a lot of the mesh too, to save on texture space. I'm not sure how it will light in engine though, considering it is so large. I would bake all the detail onto a normal map and make a world texture. You can put that texture on a brush and then place all the little mesh details over the top of it to give it more depth.

I am looking forward to playing your mod man.

[Smurftyours]

You should make 90% of that with brushes or it will look like shit in source do to the lack of lightmaps.

[plagueofburia]

cool thanks Black_stormy yeah the model is a Frankenstein I might kill it, the geometry is basic but there are so many parts that it might cause me a problem I will try and do as you say, the seams are going to take long.

Yeah about the normal map that is a technique I read in raising the bar were they created a normal map from geometry and that was used to create a texture. I think they done that a lot in HL2. These walls curve outwards and upwards and I don't like hammer for curves so I will question this as a texture on brushes, I don't see how this can turn out well for me. In raising the bar this technique was used for basic small windows.

Smurftyours cool thanks I will take that on board, I have noticed in HL2 that it has some huge models like the original HL2 combine walls and they turned out okay, how did they get their models to light correctly? I would like to attempt this as a model and texture it. If this model is too complex I might take a break from this model and try to texture something more simple.

If the model has a normal map lit would that not calculate per pixel and not per vertex wouldn't that be the better option?

The plan for lighting that I want for this one building, is to use outside natural lighting as much as possible. Where these combine walls are placed there is an opening near the top of the building that would allow light to hit just the top of the prop but leave the rest of the prop in shadow.

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Thanks for the interest Black_Stormy regarding this level. I hope it turns out okay, at the moment I will only be attempt one building out of the whole level. That is probably all that I can do which includes about 5-10 minutes of play. I have spent a long time on this 5-10 minutes and I guess it does not justify the amount of time I have spent.

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AC units textured they turned out okay they are small and detailed there are no AC units at these small sizes in any of the games that I own so I made them. There are 2 skins for this first type, there are 3 types of Ac units

I have gone a step further and I spent a while creating a logo a made up company that exist in this world for these Acunits that have a mixture of earth/English and alien language


Skin1B


SkinA




Fully lit


Any thoughts on the Ac units, is it acceptable so far? Does it clash with the ideas from HL2?

[stoopdapoop]

it's so fitting I can't stand it.

tesselation on the cylinder is noticably low, but I'm not sure it'd be worth it to fix it at this point.

[joe_rogers_11155]

i personally don't like it because of this prominent real-life company

maybe try upside-down with your logo, and/or modify the color?

[Garrador]

Working on a pinetree! Displacement map is a bit on the heavy side, but still WIP.

Lowpoly

Pinetree lowpoly wireframe

Pinetree lowpoly w/baked maps

Highpoly

Highpoly mesh pinetree

Pinetree highpoly

[marnamai]

@ Garrador: that gave me wood!

[plagueofburia]

Hi thanks, joe_rodgers_11155 I do take note of criticism/views/ideas and if I can adjust what is needed and it will not take me personally a very long time to change what is needed I will try, in this case I flipped the logo vertically, I did use Mitsubishi as reference. It did mean redoing the texture again as I had drawn dirt around the logo in its original position.

stoopdapoop, yeah the name is bad, I am sorry, It could be like the 'so bad it's good' phrase or perhaps not : ). This company (intec.industry) created for this HL2 world has an ounce of arrogance behind them. The rust version of the Air conditioning units seems only fitting for them. It was the first group of words that I thought of, it was literally created in a few seconds. Who would call themselves Intec.Industry? what type of people? I searched the name in Google and there seems to be a company called 'intec industries' extremely close to my made up company.

I changed the cylinders from 12 to 24 sides I think the model could have LOD the models with the 12 sided cylinders have geometry removed from the back of the model but there might be situations that one would need the Ac units to have a back. I am not sure if one can override the LOD of the model so only the highest LOD will load for that model. I don't really know what to do in that case it might not have LOD. It is not much difference to be honest but it all adds up I guess especially if many like 6 or 8 on one wall.

Hi quality version Lo quality

1= Hi 385 vertices
low 259 back removed 12 sided cylinder
2= Hi 646 vertices
low 414 back removed 12 sided cylinder
3= Hi 308 vertices
low 292 back removed

The only thing I am disappointed with the model set is, if only the fans could move, that would be great what about them being destructible that would be cool. Though that would be significantly more complicated, I could try and model the fan blades, edit the texture, it could be done but for now these are finished. This is a lot already for one map and it seems like I have spent too long on these Ac units. Perhaps at a later time I can add a real fan blade version.

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The Ac units are finished in Blender they are textured I created 4 difference versions each with 2 skins a clean and a rust version. I also created 4 version that are stackable I have seen some real world pictures and these types of Ac units are sometimes stacked on top of each other. So I removed some of the bars that hold units up and edited the UVs a little.

In total I used 3 textures with 2 skins. There are also wires for the AC units on a separate sheet.



















LOD model ideas






Texture and edges


To me the AC units are finished but if any criticism/ideas/ thoughts please let me know

Thanks

[shadowmancer471]

Making props for HL2 is pretty hard because you have to replicate the style of the original artists *very* carefully or the prop stands out like a sore thumb. You can't just make it photorealistic as a lot of the textures from HL2 have a very specific feel to them.
That or I'm talking out of my own arse.

That said, those AC units generally look great, your abilities as a texture artist have skyrocketed since I first saw you post on these forums.

[Gambini]

Making props for HL2 is pretty hard because you have to replicate the style of the original artists *very* carefully or the prop stands out like a sore thumb. You can't just make it photorealistic as a lot of the textures from HL2 have a very specific feel to them.
That or I'm talking out of my own arse.

That is the norm for the good modding of ANY game. You not only have to make it good, it has to blend with the game you´re using.