fantasy sword

[wolver1ne]

I think it looks very good so far. The blade needs a better texture tho. Doesn't really look like metal at the moment.

[phoenix2k]

thx for the reply :)....

any suggestions on how to get a more metallic looking texture?? like I said, its my first time texturing sth. by hand

[Ebolt]

You should add some details to the metal like little bits thats chipped off and such... Try bashing a sword into armor and see if the metal stays intact ;)

Cool model tho! :buttrock:

[wolver1ne]

I am not much of texture person self, I am sure some others will give some better ideas, but I think you will have to use kinda layered textures. So you will have like pure reflective with masked blood. Not sure if you can achieve good result with just one texture.

[phoenix2k]

yeah.. i know exactly what you mean :)... i tried masking at the beginning, but after some problems i went for one texture only using maps which included: color, bump, spec, and glossiness...

the last one doesnt appear to work, dunno... maybe i need to look into in again...

but your probably right that masking is a better appproach here

[Gkaine]

the blood is great can u post a tut on it :D

[phoenix2k]

hey thanks ;)...
it's quite simple, using just the brushes with ps... just make those dotty brushes somewhere in the middle of the list quite big 100-200 size, and paint using different opacitys... thats how i achieved the "streaky" effect...

well heres a few updates on the metal texture:

http://chromeless.de/sword/newblade.jpg

any better than before? its just color & bump atm... im working on the spec...

[phoenix2k]

testing the bloodmask:

http://chromeless.de/sword/newbladeblood.jpg

[phoenix2k]

oh, and does anybody have an ideo how i could model the handle of the sword? here is the only reference picture i'm using...

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in my opinion a bump map woudn't really do it, would a displacement map be better? i have never done anythibng with displacement maps before, so i'd have to look into that first...

on the other hand I could model it, but that would be very time consuming....

what do you guys think?....

thx, phoenix :thumbsup:

[bigB]

I think you have to model it...that has the best results.....

yes it's time consuming..but the result will be worth it!:bounce:

[Maya Ayanami]

I am sorry if this has allready been said but I think you should put some of that freaky ass writing all the way down the blade. and for the handle. it depends. if you just want a render of a closeup or something then It should be modeled but if it were in a charaters hands or far away the displacement map would be best. but model it anyways. hell do both and compare to see what aproach you like best. and if you model it it is garentied(damm bad spelling) that your skill will go.:thumbsup: :thumbsup: or maybe :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

very cool concept art.

[phoenix2k]

thanks for the replys :)...

i'm having a little problem here with my smoothed model... there are smoothing errors but i have NO idea where they're coming from... the base mesh has no extra verts/edges that i've overlooked, and i'm totally helpless atm:



Heres the basemesh:

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here the smoothed version: notice the smoothing errors :hmm:

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in my opinion the way it should have been smoothed would be the blue lines which i've drawn in manually and removing the 4 edges around it, but somehow the meshsmooth doesn't exactly see it that way.... :hmm:

[dark_lotus]

Thats really nice!!

I think you'd be best off actually modelling the handle, it will be time consuming, but if you just work on little sections at a time, you'll get the whole thing modelled reasonably quickly - you'll get the best result, and bump on top of that will look awesome.

But as for the blade - thats looks absolutely insane, the texturing is spot on, great stuff!

[phoenix2k]

ok, i've continued on the handle:

http://chromeless.de/sword/progress - 06.jpg

phoenix

[Xilo]

Cool textures. Ya, would look better if you roughed up the edges and put some dents and dings in it. I have that sword hanging up on my wall in my room. That handle is REALLY detailed. Would look awesome if you modeled. Goodluck :thumbsup:

[Gremlin]

I think a combo of bump mapping and modeling would be best for the handle... but realistically, you cant choose such a complex desing for a sword and NOT expect to have some time consuming tedius work.
Cheers,
:beer:

[Maya Ayanami]

that is weird with the smoothing. just fix it manually. it should take less then a minute.

[phoenix2k]

yeah, i managed to fix it on the base mesh... there was sommething wrong with the symmetry modifier...

i've done a simple handle now whcih will probably stay that way, maybe one or two details at the end but nothing too exiting...

is the handle too long in size? i'm not sure whether this is a one-hand or two-hand sword, anyone got any suggestions there?

i'm also planning on putting a creature of some sort into the shield, maybe a dragon or something. displacement could come in handy here, although im not sure yet....


heres the updated version:

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[Xilo]

That handle is too long. Its only a one handed sword. Heres a link to a picture of the real sword. But if your not going to try to do the real handle it looks fine.

morthoseth (http://www.bladesandbeastsswords.com/Kit%20Rae%20Fantasy/KR5%20Morthoseth.jpg)

[phoenix2k]

ahh, thanks... that refpic is way better than the one i used... thx :)

[Beastie]

Looking good man just keep it coming! :thumbsup:

[phoenix2k]

ok, i think i've finished modeling, except the creature in the shield... ill do that tomorrow...

here it is: (no textures yet, i was just trying to see if ill make the blade red or silver :))

http://chromeless.de/sword/pstry.jpg

[phoenix2k]

do you guys think that the blade at the back is appropriate?

(eg. fights with multiple enemies for "backstabbing" not in the back, but backwards if you know what i mean... )

[blindsleeper]

i would personally suggest not keeping the blade in back... it just doesnt seem functional, plus if you think logically, if someone is charging a person who is using the blade and the blade goes too far back, the blade's owner could end up with the blade in back going through his chest...

would also suggest putting the ball on the end of the blade as in your original picture just to see how it would look, if it looks like crap, just chock it up to a modelling exercise :)

[phoenix2k]

the thing with the blade at the back is, that i'll probably do an animation in the very far future, and that blade would give me a lot more options for "cool" fighting styles (matrix & co.)...

i'll leave it in there for now, and if i have time, maybe i'll model the original morthoseth sword... the problem is i've got school at the moment, and i need to focus on that a little bit (don't want any bad marks do we)... also need to organize my stuff otherwise i'll have nothing to work from when im doing my "abitur" :D...

[Maya Ayanami]

wack of that back dagger thing and dude. dont make the sword red.

[RageCage]

yeah, I dont think the sword should be red but maybe stained with red blood... yeah. looks awsome man.

[phoenix2k]

i have a few questions concerning the polycount (as this is my first "going-to-finish" model (i hope :D), i havent had any poly counting times yet :)):

1. when someone asks how many polys your model has, do you tell them the smoothed or the unsmoothed polycount?

2. this model has

unsmoothed (basemesh): 6302
smoothed (1 il. - viewport): 17390
smoothed (2 il. - render): 61736

polys... i dunno that much about the amount of polys in models, but 60k seems an awful lot for "just" a sword... most people talk about making 4k or 10k models, is this the unsmoothed or smoothed version??

thx for any helpful replys :)....

phoenix

[Maya Ayanami]

holy crap that is alot for just a sword. thank god you didnt model that complex hadle or else u'd have like several hundred polys smoothed.

give us a pic of just the unsmoothed version in a render. i want to see how low poly it looks. cause 6000 still seams like quite a bit.

[phoenix2k]

yeah, sure heres a wireframe:

http://chromeless.de/sword/wirelow.jpg

i'm not sure that i could have gone much lower in the base mesh, because of all the curves in the sword... although this is my first bigger project, so if anyone has any tips for a lower poly count, i'd be more than pleased to hear them :)...

[Maya Ayanami]

hey that was really quik. when you smooth did you smooth the whole thing or was it just part of your model. most of the blade is fine. you really only need to smooth the gaurd thing. the handle kinda looks smooth enough. sorry to be a bother but would you mind posting a render of you rlow res mesh. so we can see if there are any visible faces.(you know what I mean, acually being able to see the border between 2 faces(whatever))

[phoenix2k]

thx for the quick reply :)...

heres 2 low poly renders, one with smoothing groups turned on, the other sg - off...

sg:on
http://chromeless.de/sword/smooth.jpg

sg:off
http://chromeless.de/sword/unsmooth.jpg


thx for helping out :)...

phoenix

[SnoWmOnsTeR]

yo, i like the blade, but the handle could use some work. The sword looks to big for a one handed handle. you should extend the handle to fit two hands. Also, the blood on the sword should not blend wit the metal, the blood should be harsh and steaky. I hope my crits help you. good work!.

[Maya Ayanami]

I think the sword is a one handed blade. well it looks like that in the original concept or photo. which every he may be using.


So what is wrong with that. Im not familiar with max but it seems too me that these smoothing groups just blur the shading between polys. well kinda. Im I right. I hope I am.


anyways. that first pic with the S.G. on looks just like the other renders you gave us except for the thing that keeps you from getting your fingers choped off. that still seems not smoot enough and you can still see the edges. if you just smooth out that one part by 1 thingy(sorry dont know what they call it in max) then you should be fine. cause that 60,000 poly count is insane.

and maybe you should add a few more polys maually into the tip of the sword with out the meshsmooth option. just add iin the edges. cause it is kinda jaged up there.


the 60,000 poly count wouldn't be that bad if that super complex handle where actually modeled. but damm that would be hard.

[Maya Ayanami]

hey. phoenix2k


wheres the update.

hmm. must be at the 3D festival it is on now right.
damm. i hope im not going crazy AGAIN that darn mental institution food makes me sick:banghead:

[phoenix2k]

sry for the lack of updates ...

i'm having problems with texturing, lighting & rendering atm.... i've modeled before, but not really textured anything or delt with lighting before... so thats all quite new to me. i hope you understand...


thx, phoenix :)

[RamboSambo]

to render the metal good then get brazil or a GI rederer for starters...and what i did for good metal (well semi-good) is just to put two planes, one white and one black, in the sky to be reflected by the metal like this:

http://sam.hancock.com.au/forcgtalk.jpg


and the result was this :D :

i know the blade metal looks crap...but hey....just dont look at it :D
http://sam.hancock.com.au/renderwithfur.jpg


lookin good man....try to make the knife non-symmetrical looks too uniform at the mom.

I hope i helped!

[Maya Ayanami]

I like the little chain and fuzzy.

[dominicqwek]

nice sword...looks like a flamberge to me. Looking forward to the complete piece! :D

[TES]

nice knife:buttrock: looks like Kano´s knife in Mortal kombat film

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