Low Poly Props

[XaKu]

My first attempts at making normal and specular maps..

The barrel normal was made in maya using a high poly mesh and the table and door were made using the diffuse in crazybump.

Any and all crit's welcome

[irishlostboy]

not too bad. normal and specular maps work. the diffuse on both the door and the barrel need work though. they are really just a flat material. the barrel has some very simple dirt added.

when looking at dirt, use references. see where the dirt, rust and damage is on something is, and ask yourself why it is like that.
the barrels would probably wear first in the rims and on the raised ribs, from surface contact damage. the tops of barrels rust quickly when left outside, because they hold the water. then it may get dented from things knocking against it. it will rust where paint gets removed, then the rust runs browny red in the wet making streaks. when it rains, the rain splashes dirt off the ground onto the bottom of the barrel.
see, when thinking like this it is more easy to visualise the dirt and damage to paint it.
you were much more on the right track with the table. a little oversaturated for my liking, but the damage reads pretty well, so well done.

hope this helps you out. keep up the good work.

[XaKu]

thanks for the feedback
ill be sure to look at the reference images alot closer with the next model i make, this was mainly a test to see if i could make normal and spec maps on sum simple models.. so maybe in the future i can make them for more advanced stuff!

[Dennispls]

The amount of details on the props is so little that i think you could get away with a 256x256 maps on most if not all of them.
i would make the texture more interesting and lower the resolutions

[XaKu]

yea i would change the texture size to someting smaller if i was going to import the models into a game engine, alas im not hehe

thanks for the tip though

[irishlostboy]

Originally Posted by XaKu

yea i would change the texture size to someting smaller if .....etc

hmm. i dont really see any need to go as low as 256 with these models. as there was no mention of texture size, i would guess these are 1024 textures. at a release level i would be quite happy with 512 textures for these models. the trick is to maximise the usefulness of your texture. you will see plenty of threads around here with people making boxes with many thousands of polys and massive textures, with the idea of "future proofing" them perhaps?
it is a method not without its merits. personally i am a moderate. so, ok number of polys, and ok sized textures. as the girls say (when they are lying) its not the size that counts, it what you do with it.
as this is a "learning" thread (what thread isn't, i know), for your normal and specular maps, it may be more useful if you also put up the textures themselves, as well as wireframes of the low and high poly models. that way people can give more informed advice.

[XaKu]

Originally Posted by irishlostboy

hmm. i dont really see any need to go as low as 256 with these models. as there was no mention of texture size, i would guess these are 1024 textures. at a release level i would be quite happy with 512 textures for these models. the trick is to maximise the usefulness of your texture. you will see plenty of threads around here with people making boxes with many thousands of polys and massive textures, with the idea of "future proofing" them perhaps?
it is a method not without its merits. personally i am a moderate. so, ok number of polys, and ok sized textures. as the girls say (when they are lying) its not the size that counts, it what you do with it.
as this is a "learning" thread (what thread isn't, i know), for your normal and specular maps, it may be more useful if you also put up the textures themselves, as well as wireframes of the low and high poly models. that way people can give more informed advice.

Yea i will be sure to attach the texture files and stuff with the next model i do.. these were the first mdoels ive posted onto any forum so i dipped my toe in to see if the sharks ripped my work to shreds but was happy to see that there are no sharks in these waters, only dolphins - (sorry that was cheesy as hell haha)

[irishlostboy]

ha, there are no sharks. occasionally the dolphins have a bad day, but thats about as bad as it gets around here. we are all working to the same goals and we all love what we do, and i think that attitude comes across well for the most part on these boards. i hope you enjoy your time here.

[XaKu]

I've been too busy to do any learning last couple of weeks but just finished this..
took 3 hours to model and texture.

Crits welcome

[irishlostboy]

looks good. i like the materials. finish up the valve and call it done.