Modelling Projects

[IrocJeff]

I figured I'd start a new WIP thread for what I'm doing now. I told @Boothand once I was sick of mapping and I was going to take up Blender. So, I took it up. I do have a some good ideas for a new SP project but If I can't get the models and other game changes I want there will be no point in doing it anyhow. 

 

One of these changes is to replace the thermal detonator with just a simple fragmentation grenade. I've been digging on Wookipedia for information and found some info on quite a bit of weapons found throughout the Star Wars universe. Both Rebel/Republic and Imperial.

 

I found this model of a Cryoban Grenade, which is supposed to freeze things when detonated. To me, it looks like a German stielhandgranate from WWII. So, a bit of artistic liscense here and I'm going to use this as a fragmentation grenade. I didn't like the in-universe design. It also looked like a pretty easy model to start with which it was! I got really good at extruding stuff. Still having problems selecting all the vertices behind what is shown, though.

 

 

 

 

The Cryoban grenade has a ring on the bottom (cut off in image) that I don't like the design of which is to be a timer or something. I'm going to add a knob of sorts instead and then attempt to make the trigger.

 

As of now, this is as far as I've got, but, I'm pretty proud of myself! I'm still frustrated with the interface of Blender but its getting a bit easier.

 

[Cerez]

Kudos for an open-minded tackle on Blender! That's looking really neat, @@IrocJeff -- like a weapon that really does belong to the Star Wars universe. Simple and effective.

[Boothand]

Looks pretty good I would recommend having a lower poly count though, that is a quite high amount of vertices. You can set the amount down to the left, right after creating a cylinder shape.

 

As for selecting vertices behind what is shown, uncheck a button called "Limit selection to visible".

 

[IrocJeff]

Simple is what I was looking for just for a confidence builder. I have very little interest in NPC models and am more interested in weapons or game models like crates, pipes, railings, ect...I'm going to texture it much like the german grenade but may replace the wood handle with metal texture. I'm going to keep the top part green and maybe have writing on it with the Aurel Besh font.

[IrocJeff]

Looks pretty good I would recommend having a lower poly count though, that is a quite high amount of vertices. You can set the amount down to the left, right after creating a cylinder shape.

 

As for selecting vertices behind what is shown, uncheck a button called "Limit selection to visible".

 

 

Thanks for the tip. I'm still learning all these buttons. 

As for the lower vertices I can still change this now and I won't have to rebuild everything, right?

[Boothand]

Thanks for the tip. I'm still learning all these buttons. 

As for the lower vertices I can still change this now and I won't have to rebuild everything, right?

 

Not sure how easy it is to change that after making changes - but that model as seen on the screenshot is only 4 extrusions on a cylinder, so it shouldn't be much work to re-do and play around with polycount still

 

A quick start with shortcuts:

 

1. Numpad 1 (place yourself in the front viewport).

2. Numpad 5 (orthographical view, unless you're already in it).

3. Shift A (Select Cylinder and choose amount of sides down to the left).

4. Tab (into edit mode).

5. A (select everything).

6. G (move it into position).

7. S (scale it until it fits the top of the reference, use button X, Y or Z to contrain axes while scaling, moving or rotating)

8. Ctrl tab + 3 (face selection and select the bottom of the cylinder).

9. G (position it at the next point), S (scale), then E (extrude downwards).

10. Repeat extrusions and scaling until done.

 

If that helps ^^

[IrocJeff]

Not sure how easy it is to change that after making changes - but that model as seen on the screenshot is only 4 extrusions on a cylinder, so it shouldn't be much work to re-do and play around with polycount still

 

A quick start with shortcuts:

 

1. Numpad 1 (place yourself in the front viewport).

2. Numpad 5 (orthographical view, unless you're already in it).

3. Shift A (Select Cylinder and choose amount of sides down to the left).

4. Tab (into edit mode).

5. A (select everything).

6. G (move it into position).

7. S (scale it until it fits the top of the reference, use button X, Y or Z to contrain axes while scaling, moving or rotating)

8. Ctrl tab + 3 (face selection and select the bottom of the cylinder).

9. G (position it at the next point), S (scale), then E (extrude downwards).

10. Repeat extrusions and scaling until done.

 

If that helps ^^

 

kinda.. I just went and remade the whole thing. It only took me a few minutes. Funny, it took me about 40 to make the first one. hehe

 

Is this better? I reduced the cylinder to 12 or 14 and went from there..

 

[Boothand]

Perfect!

[IrocJeff]

great...

 

Now, one more quick question. I want to add the activation trigger to the handle area. I'm kinda confused on how to add the vertices in to raise or extrude that area...

 

How do I add that button?

 

 

 

 

I figured it out. I had to add vertices and use extrude...So, I decided to add two buttons that took nearly 2 hours to get right. . I may add something to the bottom of the handle but I'm not sure yet.

 

Edited April 18, 2015 by IrocJeff

[IrocJeff]

I removed the two buttons on the handle and made a round protrusion on the bottom to act as some sort of arming device. Also, I learned that I had to create a uv map and export that so that is where I am now. I have to find some textures to use now.

[Cerez]

For textures, I have a tip.

 

Just using Google Images, you can search for hi-res textures of real-life materials. Then you need to prep them for use in Photoshop or GIMP.

 

I am going to assume you're using Photoshop here, but I'm sure GIMP can do the same -- just the procedure may be different:

 

1. Open the texture image in Photoshop.

2. Desaturate the image. (Image > Adjustments > Desaturate)

3. Reduce brightness and increase contrast, until the black and white balance in the image is presenting only the texture's surface well. (Image > Adjustments > Brightness and Contrast)

4. Now select the whole image (Select > All).

5. With the image selected, choose the Edit > Define Pattern option.

6. Give the new pattern you've created a name.

 

Now to use your new texture you will need to create a filled area (with the colour of your choice) on a new layer, then right-click on the layer in the Layers dialog (side menu) and choose Blending Options. Turn on Pattern Overlay, and set the Blend Mode to Luminosity. Now drag the Opacity and Scale sliders until you achieve the desired textured look.

[IrocJeff]

For textures, I have a tip.

 

Just using Google Images, you can search for hi-res textures of real-life materials. Then you need to prep them for use in Photoshop or GIMP.

 

I am going to assume you're using Photoshop here, but I'm sure GIMP can do the same -- just the procedure may be different:

 

1. Open the texture image in Photoshop.

2. Desaturate the image. (Image > Adjustments > Desaturate)

3. Reduce brightness and increase contrast, until the black and white balance in the image is presenting only the texture's surface well. (Image > Adjustments > Brightness and Contrast)

4. Now select the whole image (Select > All).

5. With the image selected, choose the Edit > Define Pattern option.

6. Give the new pattern you've created a name.

 

Now to use your new texture you will need to create a filled area (with the colour of your choice) on a new layer, then right-click on the layer in the Layers dialog (side menu) and choose Blending Options. Turn on Pattern Overlay, and set the Blend Mode to Luminosity. Now drag the Opacity and Scale sliders until you achieve the desired textured look.

 

 

 I use gimp so I'll have to figure out your steps 1-6 for it.  I found a really great olive drab texture that is 3000x3000 to use as the explosive head color. I may even stick with a wood handle... not sure yet. 

 

I should be posting some test shots tonight.

[IrocJeff]

Well, I sorta got my texturing right!! I have no idea what happened! The white part is supposed to be lettering on the cylinder that says " arm detonator before use" written in the Aurel Besh font. i'm going to make the model again, make my uv map, re-texture it and try all over again. I do kinda like the white stripe up top... I may add one of those to the top and bottom for the green part.

 

ugh....

 

 

[Cerez]

It's simply that your text is in a realistic proportion, while the texture is stretched across the model. You have to count with the stretching and stretch your text to match the ratio, so that it looks normal size on the model, not on the texture image.

 

This is something quite common you'll encounter with model texturing. I have just spent 4 hours fixing a clip on the boots of my model to match the rest of the layout of the texture on the model, and stay straight (though this was by far the most extreme case I've encountered)...

[IrocJeff]

It's simply that your text is in a realistic proportion, while the texture is stretched across the model. You have to count with the stretching and stretch your text to match the ratio, so that it looks normal size on the model, not on the texture image.

 

This is something quite common you'll encounter with model texturing. I have just spent 4 hours fixing a clip on the boots of my model to match the rest of the layout of the texture on the model, and stay straight (though this was by far the most extreme case I've encountered)...

 

 

So, I should take this olive texture. Make a second texture w/ the writing on it, then import it and fit it to the cylinder and not add a layer to the cylinder and then add text?

[Cerez]

So, I should take this olive texture. Make a second texture w/ the writing on it, then import it and fit it to the cylinder and not add a layer to the cylinder and then add text?

 

I'm not sure what you mean by adding a layer to the cylinder, but what I mean is you should simply update your texture image to have the text stretched to match the stretching ratio of the texture when applied to the cylinder. That way the text will appear normal on the cylinder.

 

You should be able to just refresh/update the material used in Blender, not have to go through the adding/applying process again. This will make live tweaking the textures a lot easier.

[IrocJeff]

Well, its been about a week or so and I finally figured this out. While not texture perfect, I was able to make a model, create a uv map, figure out how to paint my uv map, and get it back into Blender. I am getting much better with the whole extruding, scaling, subdividing,and moving around with a mesh.

 

At least I got this far. I'm not happy with my textures but I'm terrible with those programs.

 

[JAWSFreelao]

I like the handle, good start.

[Cerez]

Yep, the handle is looking like a good wood base texture. And the text is looking much more in shape, now.

 

Feel free to look up some video tutorials on GIMP on YouTube, @@IrocJeff. There are plenty, and they are quite fun, actually. I would look for "layer effects" and "textures" combined with "GIMP" as search keywords.

 

Additionally, if you really get stuck, you can ask for help on the GIMP forums: http://gimpforums.com/

[IrocJeff]

 I did start over w/ the whole mesh but this time just kept the handle straight. I MAY, may borrow more from the original german grenade design and indent the handle just for depth on the top and bottom. I also plan on shortening the explosive part.

 

What I did with the text was use paint.net (the other program I use) and made an olive texture w/ the lettering. In post 13 above I had a really good texture but I deleted all my stuff to start over and I lost it. Now, I can't find it again! it was a really great texture. 

 

I think for my next post I'm going to darken the textures a bit, especially the arming button on the bottom.

[Archangel35757]

There's a standard fragmentation grenade model that would be a game-ready asset in the SOF2 assets-- and it looks exactly like what Luke Skywalker used to take down the AT-AT in the ESB.

[IrocJeff]

I have an image of that grenade as well. I want to make a few different types, hopefully.

 

In this version I took the cap off the top and gave some depth to the handle. Also, added some stripes to the body. I'm still learning how to cut up the mesh with seams and I goofed up the arming button o nthe bottom since I did not cut it as I did before so the texture is screwy.

 

 

[Archangel35757]

I have an image of that grenade as well. I want to make a few different types, hopefully.

 

In this version I took the cap off the top and gave some depth to the handle. Also, added some stripes to the body. I'm still learning how to cut up the mesh with seams and I goofed up the arming button o nthe bottom since I did not cut it as I did before so the texture is screwy.

 

 

No need to remake that one... you can rip it out of the SOF2 asset pk3 and repackage it into a Jedi Knight pk3. The only thing that might need to change is just retexturing English letters into Aurek-besh.

[IrocJeff]

I found the sof2 assets online since I have no clue where my disc went to. I'm missing Quake4 as well which is really odd. Anyhow, I couldn't find the grenade you were talking about. That's alright, though.

 

At any rate I'm giving up on texturing for now and just sticking making the models themselves. Right now I'm working on the Hoth rifle or the A-295. Well, some variant of it. Its a slow process but its getting a hair easier. I learned to fill in faces so now I can attach shapes and stuff. I've also figured out that I've been subdivding wrong. But, as I said, every few days is getting easier.

 

Here's the rifle so far.

 

[IrocJeff]

 

Here is another test run with this A-295 model. I say test and I'll probably be re-doing it several times over before I'm done. What I'm running into problems with is where my cylinders meet square meshes. I was told I can just line the vertices up against the other mesh and i'll be alright. Is there a better way to go about it than that?

 

The rear stock, upper barrel piece, the barrel itself, and the front fixed site do and will run into this issue. Any ideas?