AuthorTopic: Wing of Thunder  (Read 9845 times)

Offline Jakten

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 250
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • The Bionic Vapor Boy
    • View Profile
    • Levitating Rocksquatch

Wing of Thunder

on: June 16, 2009, 02:01:49 am
I took a quick sidetrack from texturing my automaton to make this guy. He is about 550 tris. He is going to rely heavily on texturing for his details. I was hoping to get some crits before I start to texture him though  :D


heres my reference. Its a PCengine sidescrolling shmup.

Offline Gil

  • 0100
  • ***
  • Posts: 1543
  • Karma: +1/-0
  • Too square to be hip
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/475.htm
    • View Profile
    • My Portfolio

Re: Wing of Thunder

Reply #1 on: June 16, 2009, 02:18:46 am
I find the sideview to be too rigid, try getting it to curve slightly. I'd pull the feet back a little, knees forward a little. You know, make it a little more dynamic in curvature

LODYblokady

  • Guest

Re: Wing of Thunder

Reply #2 on: June 17, 2009, 03:26:55 pm
Are you going to make the sword using alpha textures? You could considering a sword is so thin..

Offline Jakten

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 250
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • The Bionic Vapor Boy
    • View Profile
    • Levitating Rocksquatch

Re: Wing of Thunder

Reply #3 on: June 22, 2009, 04:47:02 pm
Yeah I plan on having the sword be done with alpha textures.
I've started texuring him and heres what I've got so far.

Offline ptoing

  • 0101
  • ****
  • Posts: 3063
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • variegated quadrangle arranger
    • the_ptoing
    • http://pixeljoint.com/p/2191.htm
    • View Profile
    • Perpetually inactive website

Re: Wing of Thunder

Reply #4 on: June 22, 2009, 05:26:03 pm
I reckon this will be a fullbright model?

If that is the case i think you could go out more on the highlights, get some proper shine on the armour like on that cover.
Nice start tho, can you please post your texture flat as well?

There are no ugly colours, only ugly combinations of colours.

Offline Jakten

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 250
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • The Bionic Vapor Boy
    • View Profile
    • Levitating Rocksquatch

Re: Wing of Thunder

Reply #5 on: June 23, 2009, 01:56:35 am
Thanks Ptoing, Yea I don't really plan to light it.

Aaand here's my texture:


I probably could have lain it out better and I messed up some of the seams.

I'll try making the lighting a bit more harsh, it's hard when I have it mirrored sometimes. It makes it kind of weird looking. That's probably the biggest problem I usually have.

Offline ndchristie

  • 0100
  • ***
  • Posts: 2426
  • Karma: +2/-0
    • View Profile

Re: Wing of Thunder

Reply #6 on: June 23, 2009, 08:12:38 am
since you're not seeming too concerned with pixel precision, i highly recommend spacing out rectangular regions for pieces and really filling them as you can, with very minimal space left unused.  for example, that whole leg could be a roughly rectangular shape wrapping from the rear of the heel flat to the flat bottom (also halved here) and the top (halved along a side-view contour).  this then maximizes a certain type of space while creating natural spaces left in the map for odds and ends, say, for instance a horn:



(don't actually copy the shading i just threw down random splotches so you'd know at least what i was showing you.  i have not tried this particular shading on a model and it would probably horrify).  the main reason is that mapping everything out nearly planar the way you're doing wastes a ton of space while stretching and fitting does not and it creates much more logical texture sheets rather than constantly needing to throw paint down on a region to try and figure out if it's a leg or an arm.
A mistake is a mistake.
The same mistake twice is a bad habit.
The same mistake three or more times is a motif.

Offline Jakten

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 250
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • The Bionic Vapor Boy
    • View Profile
    • Levitating Rocksquatch

Re: Wing of Thunder

Reply #7 on: June 25, 2009, 03:32:22 pm
hmm, true enough. The main reason I laid it out the way I did was to reduce stretching in the model. The only place i have some stretching is the shoulders really. I'm going to reorganize it and see if i can make a smaller texture with little deformation though.

Texture maps usually mystify me, I can make decent texture maps but nothing like what i usually see other people do where they fit everything perfectly like a puzzle with little to no deforming. I'm not sure how people manage it especially when models start to get more detailed.  For instance on the led you created there, the foot is folding around to he bottom of itself. I'm not sure how I could make that with out horrible stretching on it. Because generally the shapes are conflicting each other like this >< and when I bring all the points together into a straight line things get really deformed. Any hints at all maybe?

Offline ndchristie

  • 0100
  • ***
  • Posts: 2426
  • Karma: +2/-0
    • View Profile

Re: Wing of Thunder

Reply #8 on: June 25, 2009, 08:20:31 pm
you just have to be way more specific about what you think the problem areas are.  this method will give some distortion across the top of the foot and front of the knee, but not enough to worry.  the heel, which gets a little more pixels than perhaps it should, you can either cut into that or just avoid small details (which will be crushed).  in general though you haven't been attentive to the pixels on the texture so as long as they are all roughly the same size you hardly need to have perfect pixel-shape integrity.

on any decent res (256+), distortion due to the pixel-warp is nonexistent to a good texture artist because he sees in planes, not pixels.  what follows then is only natural - that those planes become squared so as to maximize useage.  on rare occasion fine lines cause problems, but this is generally a sign that the res should increase, not that the artist should map his faces more planarly.
A mistake is a mistake.
The same mistake twice is a bad habit.
The same mistake three or more times is a motif.

Offline Jakten

  • 0010
  • *
  • Posts: 250
  • Karma: +0/-0
  • The Bionic Vapor Boy
    • View Profile
    • Levitating Rocksquatch

Re: Wing of Thunder

Reply #9 on: June 29, 2009, 04:30:10 pm
Ok, I reorganized all of the UVs and I think they take a bit better advantage of the space I have. I should have an easier time avoiding visible seams too.

Do you think this works well or do you think I should straighten areas out more?