Mini Comp 2 - Demon gate (Beddall)

#1

Hey!!
thought i may as well have a go at this comp.
i have nothing better to do today so i thought i would try and keep a diary of sorts.
i will try and update this every hour. it’s to try and help me speed up my modelling, which at the minute is pretty slow. :slight_smile:

well here is the pic. it’s a giant stone demon thingy climbing over the mountain.
it’s pretty hard to see at the mo and there really isn’t anything to crit, but go ahead if you like.
not really worrying about the poly count yet. i’ll just optimize at the end.

modelling time so far : 1 hour
Software: Max 6

cheers!!

#2

hey!!

here is an update.
about 2.5 hours work so far.

cheers!!

#3

welcome to the party :smiley: The concept is great, the demon towering over the gate. With the extreme poly and texture limit, it will definately be a challenge :slight_smile:

#4

hey!!

3.5 hours in and modelling is almost finished.
just need to model the tail and think about what alpha effects i’m gonna go for.
got about 100 poly’s left over at the mo.

hmmm… can’t think of anything else. well here is the pic.

p.s is there any where that runs speed modelling contests?

cheers!!

#5

hey dude…looking good so far :slight_smile:

a really original idea too…

i was thinking, extra polys, free alpha textures…how about some flames and smoke for his eyes or nostrils ?

he is a demon after all :smiley:

good luck, i’ll be watching this one forsure…

G…

#6

hey!!

4 hours medelling.
modelling is now finished at last.
just alpha maps to add put it’s pretty pointless putting them in until i get the textures in there.
gonna map this thing later.

good idea default_human. i think i might just use that idea. :slight_smile:

here is the pic of the progress so far. the green poly’s around his tail will be alpha mapped.

got 30 poly’s left.

cheers!!

#7

hey!!

anyone know how to get those really nice looking gi renders in mental ray?
or do you need to use BRazil?
never used MR before :slight_smile:

cheers!!

#8

hey!!

default_human… i was just reading the main comp#2 thread and found out that you go to tee’s. i was gonna do the game design course/module there but it was too far for me to travel.
so i ended up going to DeMontfort in leicester instead to do the game course there.
if i had gone to tee’s i would have been in my last year too so i would probably know you.
bizzare. hehe

cheers!!

#9

hey!!

i can’t seem to get alpha’s to work in the viewport.
i can get them to work by putting an alpha in the opacity channel but i’m pretty sure that’s not the right way.
any help on this would be great.

cheers!!

#10

Haha…it’s weird the way a mini games comp brings people together :p…i didn’t know Alex till i joined the comp, and it turns out he lives 3 doors down from my uni house…and we pretty much like similar stuff, go to the same clubs, but we’d never spoke to each other…WEIRD…

if you’re looking for the quick way, use brazil and turn on the GI for skylight and tweak it from there…this method is less than perfect, but it’s what a LOT of people do to get a really quick but nice looking render…

another way of getting soft shadows is by using area shadows…i use Max (with Brazil), i’m not sure if you are or not, and i’m not sure if area shadows are in other apps. Set the area of the shadow to be quite big…this will make the shadows outline fuzzier as the light is coming from a spread area (duh :p) rather that a single point…

hope this helps…

G…

#11

Hey Rob fantastic concept really like it.
It’s funny cause i’m currentley about to start my final year at Tees but i’m in Leicester at the mo (where i’m from) i didn’t have a clue that DeMont did a games course… whats it like?

Sorry to hijack the thread was just intrigued about the games course???

Nice one.

#12

hey!!

it’s not a games course as such. it’s called MULTI MEDIA DESIGN. we get one game design module and that’s it. but we also get to do 3d animation with MAYA so it ain’t that bad.
we also get regular visits off codemasters who come in and crit our work and run modelling texturing workshops which are pretty cool. They also say they will employ anyone who they see has potential, so i gotta keep practising. :slight_smile:

cheers!!

#13

hey!!

well i started playing around with the textures.
these are just to try and figure out what colour everything is going to be.

not sure what colour to have the demon.
it was originally planned to be a sort of sculpture coming out of the rock but it seems to blend in too much with the rockface then. and bearing in mind that the comp is a environment model i think that should be the case. it might be classed as too much of a character model if he is a seperate entity. hmmm not sure.
what are your suggstions??.
how do i get the textures to look better in the viewports? they look ok in the renders but in max they look pixxellated to crap.

cheers!!

#14

how about the typical stone Golem type of look, with a stone base, with magma craps showing through…then, coupled with the smoke and fire, that’d look ace…just a suggestion :slight_smile:

and

go into customize > preferences > viewports > configure driver and then turn on the “match bitmap size as closely as possible”…i turn up the texture sizes to 1024 and 512 respectively too…

G…

#15

hey!!

by the “magma crap” showing through do you mean like the Balrog from LOTR?
i think that would look well cool but it’s gonna be abit hard with the texture restrictions. but hey, you just gave me some inspiration. was getting abit frustrated at trying to texture this thing. just needed direction i guess. thanks.

and what do you mean by “turn the texture size up”? the actual texture ( so resize in photoshop) or is this another option in max?

sorry, i usually use maya.

forget that last bit. i saw what you were on about once i got to the menu. :slight_smile:

cheers!!

#16

oops…i meant to type “cracks”…lol…magma craps…that must’ve been a hot curry !!! :stuck_out_tongue:

i can’t actually remember how the Balrog’s surface looked…basically, the stone has cracked, and where the cracks are, magma or lava has seeped through and come to the surface…

word

G…

#17

hey!!

balrogs surface pretty much looks like what you described. and is what i’m gonna try and get it to look like.

today i will mostly be…laying out the uv’s.

here is what i have so far.
the layout is on the left.
i think i have managed to get minimum distortion ut if anyone can see a problem area then please let me know.

cheers!!

#18

hey!!

well i have managed to unwrap the head and am now playing around with the textures.
i’m having abit of trouble tho. in photoshop they look really good. nice bright colours.
then in max they look really washed out and naff.
anyone know why this is and how to fix it?

cheers!!

#19

hey!!

anyone know about using vertex alpha to get transparency and is it allowed in this comp?

cheers!!

#20

hey!!

been working on the texture for the statue dude but i ain’t really sure if this is going to work.
it just seems too busy on his head. but i’m guessing it’s going to look ok on the body. so seeing as i’m using the same texture space for both i’m a bit stuck.

oh well, if you have any suggestions then let me know.

cheers!!