Models. Tank's Online & an RPG

Community Forums/Showcase/Models. Tank's Online & an RPG

Paul "Taiphoz"(Posted 2003) [#1]
HI guys. I just need some feedback on some of these models.

Allie

Axis


And my first attempt at a character model.



Any suggestions would be good. Havent got a clue how to add bones or add any sort of good looking textures yet so any advice at all would be good.


Dock(Posted 2003) [#2]
Your tanks seem fine to me, but I'm not into military stuff, so I can't really comment. Realistic tanks all look the same to me, so these are all good. ^_^

I like your little character! He's veeeery smooth though... how high is the polygon count? Is he made of lots of little pieces, or is he one seamless model? I presume you're using parent/child rigging, which works reasonably well I suppose, especially for a boney alien type dude. It's cool though, I like it! ^_^

I'm using Ultimate Unwrap for my textures. It's still a pain in the arse to unwrap the character, but it's worth it in the long run, because it improves the quality of your texture no end. It also will come in handy later on as a file converter, for getting your work into B3D format. Unwrap 2 (released a few weeks back) adds a lot of improvements, and it's a great tool all around. Well worth the cost of $35...

http://www.unwrap3d.com/

Alternatively, there's a tutorial floating around about using the seperation and flattening technique. Basically, after duplicating your mesh, you cut your mesh into sections and flatten them out and lay them out in the top view. You use these to capture a Planar texture using Texporter, then morph your pieces back into the original shape.

That was the technique I used before I got unwrap, it was a bit of a pain though.


Paul "Taiphoz"(Posted 2003) [#3]
Thanks about the tanks.

The model char is loads of wee bits I then used a boolean op to add em all into one.

Not sure if this is the right way to go about things but its how I did it.

Im planning on getting a hold of milkshape cos Iv been told its good for modeling chars. and it does a lot of the bone stuff for you, so im told.

Just wish some of you blitzers who have done all this could write a blitz users tutorial. It would help all of us new modelers out no end.


HNPhan(Posted 2003) [#4]
the tank looks good, but the character there wouldnt be suited for real time games IMO, using boolean operations for modeling low poly model is highly not recommended.

as for a tutorial on boning and modeling and texturing, many sites on the internet already have been created, unless its something which is more specific to Blitz3D.


Paul "Taiphoz"(Posted 2003) [#5]
Yeah iv seen a few but.

They are all done from a particular point of view. IE that of a 3D modeler and not a games designer who needs to do models.

If one of us. ie the blitz community was to make a tutorial "Character from idea to render" type thing then it would lean more towards a game type thing and have a lot more blitz friendly parts. I dont know if im getting over what I mean to say its like 4Am to me. :)

Anyway if one of us modeler types was to make a tutorial it would be better for us than one a dedicated modeler would have done. IMHO..

Anyway fingers are crossed.


HNPhan(Posted 2003) [#6]
I tried to do that on BlitzCoder, but instead of a long written tutorial, i did a video tutorial, but seemed like there were just too little interests, therefore i dropped the idea, i dunno if ill start it again, but ill do it only if theres enough demand.


Paul "Taiphoz"(Posted 2003) [#7]
Well Id love to see a tutorial that would teach me how to make a character .. bone it <dont laugh please> .. and then texture it.

Im sure there are tons of others out there who would love to see this as well.

Thing is I learn fast as those models can show. all first time try's .. the tanks were my first ever models.

So all I need is a good easy to understand tutorial and Ill be able to do it.


HNPhan(Posted 2003) [#8]
i see what you mean, altough Psionic already did really good tutorials already, maybe you should take a check at it first?
i forgot his website URL, someone here undoubtly knows it and might post it.


Dock(Posted 2003) [#9]
http://www.psionic3d.co.uk/
Yeah, Psionic's tutorials are really nice and applicable to a lot of people, regardless of style or subject matter. I don't know if I would like to do a tutorial personally, as I'm still learning myself. However, I empathise that it's very hard to get started in 3D modeling. My main recommendation is to start off with simpler stuff, ideally 1000 polygons or less. One of my first satisfactory models was of a 400 polygon statue, and a 300 polygon pig :)


Paul "Taiphoz"(Posted 2003) [#10]
Right Psonic3D is ma new best pal...

OMG those tutorials are just what im after...


Paul "Taiphoz"(Posted 2003) [#11]
Just downloaded milkshape.. Gona buy it tonight when the wife gets in with her credit card :)


Wiebo(Posted 2003) [#12]
Tanks look cool but I think the texture is a bit too 'busy' Maybe you should make the dirt a bit less apparant... But maybe if increased the light in that render some more they wouldn't look that dark