Break Room

[Konstruct]

Hello there-

I dont really have much to say for the modeling as there really isnt too much to crit. in that department. only thing I think would be cool to see is some junk modeled. like crumpled up pieces of paper, some post lunch trash on the table- etc.

as for the textures I`d like to commend you for all the hand painting.
But with that said It would really bring some life into you image if you spiced up the textures a bit with some photo`s of actual textures on top of your base texture. If you have a digital camera I recomend taking the time to photograph some real textures, but if you dont have the time, or a digi- then there are plenty of places to find photo textures online.

one of my favorites: texture forrest (http://textures.forrest.cz/)

I`m making the assuption that your using a program that allows layers for your textures-
(keep in mind though that just slapping a texture on top with "overlay" as your transfer mode is ok for some situations, but most likely your going to want to tweak it a bit because that method tends to flatten out your image.)

Things to keep in mind is practicality and how materials would appear in the real world. take for example, the floor, and walls. over time the floor would take on wear from people walking on it and would appear darker in the edges because it doesnt get as much foot traffic thus dirt has time to collect., maybe not DARK dark, but you might want to try and darken up where you floor, and wall meet.
-then for objects, you want to highlight your edges.

the most important piece of knowledge I want to share has to do with highlight and shadow color. In real life there is no such thing as true black or white. every shade has a tint. maybe a highlight has a little red. or a little yellow- but the bottom line, is NEVER paint your highlights with white. I know this sounds knit picky, but you`ll be blown away at how much of a difference it makes.

also I think the red cross should be more like this:
http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:ZqU8dWUbHVcJ:http://www.crwflags.com/art/miscflags/redcross.gif
than an actual jesus looking cross,

the papers on your tack board would be a PERFECT thing to start messing around with photo references. http://hcs.harvard.edu/%7Egdc/Images/Dorm%20Photos/Conant%20Hall/Conant_Message_Board_big.jpgThe way you have them now there all to uniform - too straight. the shadow on them is WAY too big (unless thier floating off of the board) and they need something on them, and thier all too white, you should try to vary thier color up a bit , tint some slightly warmer and some slightly cooler.
also look at how light is working in that photo- and the way it effects edges, and corners-


hope that helps

[Serial]

hmm... am i missing something or is that piece of work for realtime engine ?

[LADmaticCA]

Thanks Konstruct for the crit. I do have some photo reference images that I could use, it's just that, I've been criticized in the past for using too much photo ref so I'm trying to find the perfect balance.

I am keeping things low-poly as if it would be in a realtime engine. All of the models are 300 polys or less.

How much do you guys hand paint your textures?

[glynnsmith]

Hey dude. I can't paint textures that well, so your skill is far above mine.

One thing that looks a little off is it's not dirty. I know this area would be cleaned regularly, but you'd still get wear and tear on the floor, around the bottoms of your objects where people have kicked / scuffed them, and there would be marks around handles / buttons / anywhere where people regularly touch with their hands.

On the other hand, if this place is regularly cleaned, everything should have a whole load of specular. Konstruct touched on highlighting slightly, but i think your art would benefit with some specular, especially on the vending machine, floor, fridge, lockers and the bin under the first aid box.

Another tiny crit would be to make your floor not so perfectly repetitive. Get some grit around the edges of each tile or something to break it up.

Good luck :thumbsup:

[RO]

Thanks Konstruct for the crit. I do have some photo reference images that I could use, it's just that, I've been criticized in the past for using too much photo ref so I'm trying to find the perfect balance.

I am keeping things low-poly as if it would be in a realtime engine. All of the models are 300 polys or less.

How much do you guys hand paint your textures?

Max Payne used a lot of Photo Ref, And many other games. I think anybody who says photo ref is bad is really taking you on a ride. What is the point of making a perfect realistic brick wall if you can just take a picture of it than edit it in half or less the time in Photo Shop. At the end the time is the most important factor. Now making photo ref textures look good in game is a totally different thing. It does involve editing it and adding your own contrast and even adding small details such as dirt and worn stuff on textures to get the full effect. But it takes less time still than making it from scratch.

Now this is not say that your skill in making realistic textures from scratch is not something you should learn. But I usally do that when I just can not find the right texture. And I still use layers of grit and stuff from photo taken stuff. A good texture has plenty of layers upon layers of work to get the feel perfect.

Konstruct has a lot of cool points especially on the highlights.

[Athey]

I use photo ref for everything and then if needed, I do some painting on top, or to blend things where ever needed. Photo ref is key. At the studio I work at, we'd get yelled at if we tried to get away with purely hand-painted textures.

Whoever yelled at you for using too much photo ref really doesn't know what they're talking about. In a scene like this, it really is best to just use loads of photo ref.

[LADmaticCA]

Thanks again for the replies everyone. I've been going back into each object and adding detail. Does anyone have a tutorial for texturing walls? I'm having trouble fitting my horizontal walls into the square UV space (hope that makes sense). Do I have to make my UV's square?

http://studentpages.scad.edu/~ldanie20/postedStuff/break1.jpg
http://studentpages.scad.edu/~ldanie20/postedStuff/break2.jpg
http://studentpages.scad.edu/~ldanie20/postedStuff/break3.jpg
http://studentpages.scad.edu/~ldanie20/postedStuff/break4.jpg

[Neil]

Already looking better.
Try to place the light like they're coming from a real source. Instead of just positioning them randomly to flood the scene.

[SneakyBiscuit]

For the walls...just create a square texture that can be tiled horizontally. For the tiling...make your wall texture, and go to filter > other > offset in photoshop to wrap your texture around itself...then just hide/paint over the seam in the middle. Like magic you have a tileable texture.

As far as the actual wall texture, I agree with everyone else. Use as much photo reference as you need. After all, everyone one of us has a lifetime of experience as to what looks realistic in this world. The most precise is to take from what is real. Hand painted objects can stick out like a sore thumb in realistic environments.

[Konstruct]

awesome improvements. keep going!

something to also keep in mind is stuff gradients across surfaces.- objects such as a fridge will bit light slightly more at the top than at the bottom so there would be a very subtle light to dark.

[nattnewman]

Howdy YoWom_the_Creator,

Starting to look quite nice, keep up the good work! Oh, and be sure to nail your lighting sources...started to work on the ceiling yet?

As Neil said, "Try to place the lights like they're coming from a real source. Instead of just positioning them randomly to flood the scene." Doing that will greatly improve your scene all the more.

Keep up the good work,

:beer:

Nathan.

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