Robot critique and material question

# 1 21-04-2012 , 08:17 AM

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First off, hello everyone. I'm new to the forums and this is my first post. Please forgive me if it isn't the correct forum to post this in, I'll make sure to take care of it if it isn't.

Now!

I'm just a beginner to this, hoping to learn a lot more. Right now I'm in a 3d arts program at my university and I'm working on my final project for my 3d modelling/texturing class.

There are still some things I personally want to add, but for now I would just like some feedback on anything you guys think would help out the final version.

(Just a side note: I had to use the egg shape for the robots body and the features of its head as part of the assignment. That part was to be modeled from images to scale as part of the grade. We were then required to add pieces to make the robot our own)

user added image

(Direct link to full size image: https://i42.tinypic.com/a0icnk.jpg)

One thing I really wanted to know is if there is a way to make the base material look more metallic? Would that be something that strictly needs to be done while texturing or are there materials that my maps can be applied to? I've just began to dip into texturing so there are a lot of things I don't even know exist.

And last thought while I'm typing this out...any tips of the max amount of maps to use per model? I have 3 maps right now, and even then some of my UVs are too small to have any real detail on the geometry.

Sorry for the long post! Don't beat me up too much, haha.

Thanks,

Louis

Last edited by lsaucedo; 21-04-2012 at 08:33 AM. Reason: Put direct link to full size image

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# 2 21-04-2012 , 01:13 PM

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From what i can see from the picture you have used a Lambert material for the entire model. A Lambert is a flat shaded material with no specular highlight and to create a metal you would certainly need at least some spec.
A blinn would be a better starting point for your texture and then i would think about creating a specular map so the highlights are not even over the model, in the real world not every piece of the robot would be made of the same material so it follows that some parts would be shiny and other less so.

with regards to your question about the amount of maps..... there is no real limit other than time constraints and RAM, every texture map you add will increase your render time and the larger the texture resolutions the more time it will add. For a still image such as this that should not really be and issue here.
You could increase the resolution of your maps for more detail or use more maps with less resolution.

One last tip for you final render i would try and make the lighting a little more dramatic and or even the camera shot position since right now the lighting is very flat and even and the composition od the scene is not the most exciting.

I hope this helps you a little and good luck with your grade.

2 x Modeling Challenge Winner

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# 3 21-04-2012 , 02:10 PM

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Appreciate the input!

I should have given just a little more background. Those are Phongs I'm using, but I just made a quick scene render to see how it was coming. The scene it is in is just temporary and I haven't messed with lighting yet. I do need to mess with my spec map, more, though. I didn't want it to reflect too much but I may have gone overboard. I didn't realize how little that render showed any lighting at all, though.

But using that Phong, is there anything to do with that specifically that can give it more of a steel/metal effect and not just shiny. I don't know if I'm explaining it correctly. Sort of like I'm applying my maps to an already metallic base?

Also, when the professor showed us UVing earlier he was big on making sure everything was scaled in the 1-1 space, but would it hurt to make certain parts larger so it uses more of the map? (Example: The minigun barrels UVs are pretty small so there isnt a lot of detail in the metal textures Im trying to use on it) Would that hurt anything in the long run? I couldn't really see it doing any damage, but just thought I'd task.

Thanks again,

Louis

Last edited by lsaucedo; 21-04-2012 at 08:54 PM. Reason: Embarrassing grammar mistakes

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# 4 21-04-2012 , 02:39 PM

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Your guns could fill the entire 1 -1 uv space and be on their own map if you wanted, making it bigger on a single map although not wrong would make it hard to create a texture that is the same scale as the other pieces on your uv map. You have to balance the time it would take to create a separate map with the detail seen and is it needed or worth it.
To create a metal look is is really all about the spec highlights, you mention that you didn't want it to be too shiny so you need to control that with spec maps.
With metal the defuse color tends be darker since metal tends to absorb more color so first i would darken your defuse map.
Try switching your shader type from phong to blinn in the attribute editor and then set the eccentricity to 0.2 and the roll off to 0.8 , this will give you very bright sharp highlights and a metal look but to control where you want the highlights you need a map for the specular color ( Black = no highlights and white = full highlights and grey the amounts inbetween) .

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Last edited by jsprogg; 21-04-2012 at 02:46 PM.

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# 5 21-04-2012 , 06:24 PM

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Sounds like a plan.

Thanks again!

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# 6 22-04-2012 , 04:57 AM

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wow good luck mate...jsprogg is well experienced so listen carefully LOL...serious. I will add...as I do them for a living..your terrain looks a little flat and kind of one texture for the whole thing. I would try some rock texture or mud...something similar to break it up and put something in there for scale...whether or not you need to do this is I guess part of the quest.

At present I see a good robot but nothing to give us a scale of the size of the beast. Good luck with it all mate...good to see young players having a go

cheers bullet

bullet1968

"A Darkness at Sethanon", a book I aspire to model some of the charcters and scenes

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# 7 22-04-2012 , 05:00 AM

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here is a 30 min piece I did for someone who needed to build a bridge and get over it! yes someone who needed a reality check LOL...note its basic but see how I have broken the grass area up etc....just to give you an idea for your terrain

cheers bullet

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bullet1968

"A Darkness at Sethanon", a book I aspire to model some of the charcters and scenes

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# 8 22-04-2012 , 06:53 AM

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here is a real crappy example of at least making the terrain look like it has volume....jsprogg would be better for this...I have forgotten lighting rules etc LOL...but hopefully you get the drift.

cheers bullet

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