[Weapon] Geballte Ladung 3kg [WIP](WW2)

[M_Striker]

Hey there, so after Lucky.boy posted about tasks for the Project Normandy mod I decided I would give one of the easier models a try as I'm still very much a noob at modelling. As a result I picked the Gebalte Ladung 3kg and would really love feedback on it.

Again, I'm still finding my way around 3dsmax and the countless tutorials I've watched can only do so much. I'm finding I need direct criticism and experience to really get better!

This is the reference I've been mainly using



Anyways, on to the model.

What I've got so far:

Main Body with Edged Faces

unsmoothed:



smoothed:









Clamp Smoothed and Unsmoothed






Here are the parts I'm concerned about:



Not sure if that's a bad thing or nothing to worry about.




Here's an Edged Faced Shot of above





I feel like the tip of the arc is too pointy but I'm having a bit of trouble flattening it out.

Regarding optimization I have two versions of this model in the scene. One where I deleted a ton of edges that I believe to be unneeded and one where I left them in. When I smoothed out the two I got a slight difference



So if you notice where I highlighted there's a lighting difference between them. Hard to explain but I hope the picture will show it well. I'm not sure if that's anything to be concerned about. The one on the right has more edges in the mesh. Here's an edged face shot:



Ah and one more question, as far as keeping different parts of the model separate for now, what are the protocols regarding that? The clamp, handle, and bolts are all separate now, but do those need to be eventually connected to the mesh?


That's it for now. I'm working on making the handle fit better and look better, then I'll take a look at modelling the holes where the fuse goes into. In addition, I am using 3ds max 2012. I know it's definitely not ideal as the model will need to be backported but I can't get access to 3ds max 9.

[Spush]

Here are the parts I'm concerned about:

http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/w60 ... aba1d4.png
http://i1332.photobucket.com/albums/w60 ... 74af79.png

You have triangles there, cut it into quads. Especially if you're going to subdivide it. When subdivision modeling you have to work in quads, otherwise most triangles will give you errors.

[Doc.Pock]

edit: made the shape myself to show you the edge flow.

[M_Striker]

edit: made the shape myself to show you the edge flow.

Yeah that's more or less the same edge flow I ended up with after Spush's comment. Thanks for the tips guys

[AquaticPenguin]

Here's how I tend to do sharp edges with only quads.

[Gracler]

I'm fairly new to modeling myself, but I found out so far that making very low poly models is a must for bf2 modeling.

So anything that define the contour shape of your objects is of-course necessary but any dents or concave forms should be placed in a "bump map" if they are not significant. However the handle part is too significant and a part of the contour, to be placed in a bump map I recon so it is looking quite alright the way it is going.

the 2 horizontal "rings" at the "3 KG" area seems unnecessary to me though. (edit: just noticed your low poly version don't have them so your on track )

When the texture is applied it going to look really nice Jerry cans ftw.

[Doc.Pock]

also that extrude you have on the bottom edge, you can have it in the normal map too. no need for geo there

[M_Striker]

I'm fairly new to modeling myself, but I found out so far that making very low poly models is a must for bf2 modeling.

So anything that define the contour shape of your objects is of-course necessary but any dents or concave forms should be placed in a "bump map" if they are not significant. However the handle part is too significant and a part of the contour, to be placed in a bump map I recon so it is looking quite alright the way it is going.

the 2 horizontal "rings" at the "3 KG" area seems unnecessary to me though. (edit: just noticed your low poly version don't have them so your on track )

When the texture is applied it going to look really nice Jerry cans ftw.

Really, so this hole on the right is completely unneeded then?

also that extrude you have on the bottom edge, you can have it in the normal map too. no need for geo there

Really? How does that work? Is it just an illusion to extrude it? Again I'm new to all this and even more so to the texturing aspect of it all.

[Doc.Pock]

yeah. normal maps change teh way light bounces off of a mesh, altering the visuals.

read this

NormalMap - Polycount Wiki

[lucky.BOY]

Hey, nice work so far

Tbh I didnt really expect you to start with highpoly stuff, but looking at the ref again, those details are best made from highpoly model.

You need to decide if you make first your low-poly or your high-poly model. Finish one first and then do the other one. I personally find it better to make lowpoly first, but you can see for yourself which way works better for you.

[Pvt.LHeureux]

Waiting for Rhino's post.....

[Doc.Pock]

in the end you want the hipoly to look like the attachment and the low poly to be just like a box down there. and do mind this, you need to have that sloped bit for the normal map to take effect. i found it best to be around 30 degrees

[M_Striker]

in the end you want the hipoly to look like the attachment and the low poly to be just like a box down there. and do mind this, you need to have that sloped bit for the normal map to take effect. i found it best to be around 30 degrees

Gotcha, although what sloped bit are you talking about? The curved indent at the top?

Edit: nvm I assume you're talking about the bottom. So you're saying I need the extrude for the high poly but not for the low poly?

[Doc.Pock]

Yeah. Thats what im saying. Since thos is a small object, an that an even smaller extrude, it can be covered by a normal map no problem. Just make sure to not have a 90 degree edge there. Make it sloped

[M_Striker]

Alrighty cool. So I've decided I'll finish up the high poly since I've already gone down that road. I think I'm mostly done except for the fuse. Do I need to attach the handle and clamp piece to the mesh physically?

The model has a meshsmooth modifier over it and isoline display is checked.



Here's the bottom extrude of the high poly. I think it's sloped enough?



Top View:

[lucky.BOY]

Dont know about newer versions, but in max 9 it is better to use Turbosmooth then Meshsmooth, as it is faster (they say) Dunno how hard is it to switch to it, but may be worth trying.

Also im not sure about the curve on the handle etc, looks like done largely by hand? I Tend to use spline tool to get the basic shape, or just use as few edges as possible and let the turbosmooth figure it out for me

You dont need to weld the highpoly together as long as it looks good and details stay relatively close to where the lowpoly surface will be. This "trick" can be used to make it look connected


It is hard to say with only edged pictures, but on your previous pictures your edges were too tight, too sharp. you always need to exaggerate this a little, so it is noticable after its baked.


It is best to zoom out like here, and you can see that this could as well be a lowpoly. You need to make all edges smoother, so they catch highlight properly after bake.

Oh and isnt it a little bit too tall, comparing it to a ref?

[M_Striker]

Alright, I switched the modifier to turbosmooth. I never noticed a difference between the two to be honest.

The handle was done by spline, as that was the only way I could get a cylinder of uniform thickness all around. I modelled one half then just copied it over and rotated it to get the other. It does look a little strange looking at it again though, I'll look at it again.

How are these edges, more what you're looking for or still too sharp?




I found the dimensions of the thing posted somewhere and just used those so I don't think it's too tall. Maybe it's the angle of things that's throwing the perspective off.

[lucky.BOY]

This is about what the edges should look like when baked down to the lowpoly, and to get them baked like this, you need to exaggerate them a bit more on the highpoly.

The hole for fuse should be on right side as well IIRC, and make the inside of the hole a cone. Im not sure how to model that on highpoly to get that hollow feel, but if you leave it as cylinder it will loose all its depth in baking (nicely visible from the top view).

[Rhino]

http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1725 ... hmodel.jpg