Water Pump (hand Pump)

[DeepOmega]

Working on the water pump. Poll: Should it be normal mapped, or not? I'm torn - on the one hand, metal always looks better normaled, but on the other, the only real detail I can justify adding with normals is some sort of stamping, and perhaps cleaning up the curves. Not really optimal use of the texture space.

[god_is_my_goldfish]

If it's dark metal a specular map alone would be a nice improvement, it would add the whole "edges catching light" thing that it does.

[DeepOmega]

 

Done the low-poly - haven't decided if it's worth doing a high poly for normaling yet. Decisions, decisions.

 

Edit: Almost forgot - it's a bit heavy, at around 1060 polys, but it's also basically guaranteed to be only in one room in a level. Besides, it'll specular nicely with all those polys around the curves and handle.

Edited December 28, 2004 by DeepOmega

[DeepOmega]

Well, I decided to do a high poly because I'm putting off unwrapping the low poly.

 

 

I do believe it is sleep time for now, so I'll keep working on this tomorrow.

[_Atti_]

http://forums.thedarkmod.com/index.php?showtopic=653&st=0

 

 

thats why i said the model list should be updated....:\

[Springheel]

Yeah, DO, take a look around at what's happened while you've been gone.... Go through the recent threads before you spend time on anything else.

[sparhawk]

Yeah, DO, take a look around at what's happened while you've been gone.... Go through the recent threads before you spend time on anything else.

But you know that this is quite timeconsuming and you might miss a lot. And you don't really expect a new member to read ALL the old threads before he starts on anything???

 

That this happens is not a direct problem of DeepOmega it is also a problem of the proejct management. We should provide the means that something like this doesn't happen, or at least that there is an easy way for new members to get up to date fast. And if somebody was away for some time, it is the same situation like a new member is in.

[DeepOmega]

Damn - I read through all the threads, but I guess I scrolled right past that one. SO should I scrap this model, or do you want me to finish and normal map it, to see how she looks?

[_Atti_]

well all my mansion related models are in two topics...

but anyway.. if the model list was updated then this surely wouldnt happen..

 

 

about the models..well if you finish it than it is my time that was wasted if you dont then it is your time wasted too bad that the model looks nearly exactly the same

...howver i have only high poly version of mine..

so lets scrap my version and lets use yours

 

edit: i would like to give my version to another project if noones against it

Edited December 28, 2004 by _Atti_

[DeepOmega]

OK, I've got the high poly all set - render is below. I'm unwrapping the low, and downloading the demo of 3DS Max 7 to test its normal mapping capabilities. Really, tho, I'm ordering the new version tonight, so the demo is more to last the three days till it arrives.

 

[DeepOmega]

Hot damn. Max 7's built-in normal mapping functions are awesome. To hell with Radeon's plug-in.

[DeepOmega]

 

Consider the normal mapping done (aside from perhaps adding detail via flat texturing). I'm ready to upload, but once more - FTP does not work. This is a major problem. =P

 

Edit: 1022 tris. A bit higher than I'd like, but it has a lot of nice detail around the top, and there shouldn't be more than one per map anyways. If desired, there's a few tris I should be able to shave off.

Edited December 29, 2004 by DeepOmega

[_Atti_]

veynice...

how do you do normalmaps?

(that video tutorial linked by Oddity wasnt really clear for me and was absolutely unserious..)

do you create uwv map for only the low poly one or both? and if both do those require something special? i cant really do uwv maps, do you know any easy/fast method?

[TYROT]

dear DEEPOMEGA

 

It looks so cool.I was expecting you gonna put those little dots...I liked them.It s giving totally different attitude and making it hand crafted tool..It s a beauty..

 

BEST

[DeepOmega]

Christian's Normal Mapping in 3D Studio Max 7 Tutorial :

 

Step one: Make a low poly model.

 

Step two: Make a high poly model that is just big enough that it covers the low poly - this doesn't need to be perfect, but it helps.

 

Step three: Unwrap the low poly model, so that it is UV mapped.

 

Step four: Select the low poly model, and press the 0 key on your keyboard to bring up the render to texture window.

 

Step five: Under the Projection Mapping heading, check the box next to Enabled to enable projection mapping. Click the Pick... button, and select your high poly model. Uncheck sub-object levels.

 

Step six: Scroll down to the Output heading. Click the Add... button, and choose Normals from the list. Make sure that the Target Map Slot dropdown menu has Bump selected. Pick a nice map size - I usually use 512 or 1024, since it's better to scale down than to scale up.

 

Step seven: Click render. Wait. (note that the image that appears in the rendering window is NOT the normal map. This is the diffuse map, which won't be saved. Also note that, if you so desire, you can texture a high poly model, than burn its diffuse/specular/normal/height maps to textures. This is awesome.)

 

Step eight: If you want to render in 3ds using the texture you just rendered, apply a new material to it. Expand the Maps subheading, then click the None button next to the Bump category. Select Normal Bump, then click the None button next to the Normal Bump heading. Select bitmap, and load up the bitmap that you just rendered.

 

There are a few things to point out here. I choose to render one element at a time - that is, rather than burn the entire pump at once, I burned each separate piece. There were 11 pieces in all. This eliminates weird situations where you have projections encompassing totally different parts of the model. There are also more advanced methods for normal mapping - the most useful is the cage, which is that blue thing that appears around your low poly model after you apply the projection mapping to it. This cage defines how ray sampling is done - note that if your cage looks weird or ugly, it won't get good results. Think of it this way: The cage should TOTALLY encompass the high poly model, and it should look (in general shape) like your low poly model. If there is twisting or warping, you'll want to change it. TO do this, select the low poly model, go to the modifiers tab, click the + button next to Projection, select Cage, and you will now be able to move the vertices of the projection cage. Hell yes for total normal mapping control.

[sparhawk]

Consider the normal mapping done (aside from perhaps adding detail via flat texturing). I'm ready to upload, but once more - FTP does not work. This is a major problem. =P

The pump looks good. But you should remove the dots(?) from the outlet. They look great on the body, and you could put some on the handle, but they don't really fit on the outlet (don't know hot this is called).

 

On the handle they would look much better, because they often have them as a kind of ornament there.

[Springheel]

They're not decorations, they're rivets. I like them, myself.

[_Atti_]

thanks a lot ! only one more question about mapping..

what is the best method to Uwv items? i've done some trying but the result wasnt much nice:)

[DeepOmega]

Made two changes - I took the rivets off of the spout, just to see how it looks, and I added rivets to the handle. Thoughts? Comments? The handle rivets look nice, I think, but I'm torn on the spout.

 

 

Atti:

 

UV mapping is right up there with character rigging as one of the most tedious parts of modelling. There's no "quick and easy" answer, and when you're doing game modelling, it gets even harder. Here are some tips:

 

-Try to find "shapes" in your model - often, this will be a series of cylinders or boxes. Using the UVW Map modifier, apply an appropriate shape to it. The most common ones you'll use are planar, cylindrical, and box.

-This will NEVER be enough - this is just a quick way to get it started. Apply an Unwrap UVW map, and click edit. Now take about a minute to cry.

 

Done? Good. Now you get to move individual vertices and polygons. Play around with this tool, you will need to know it like the back of your hand. Learn, in particular, the Break, Weld, Target Weld, and Flatten tools. Figure out what they do, and how to use them.Remember, the bigger something appears within the texture space, the more detail you can put on it. Keep small pieces relatively small, and keep big ones relatively big. (Note, however, that curving or swirly shapes need more space, as well - on this water pump, the handle gets a pretty big swath of texture space since its normal map is rather detailed.)

 

There's not much else to say, except practice, practice, practice. Once you have something unwrapped, apply a Checker map to its Diffuse slot - this will give you an idea of how badly textures are distorted on it. (Make sure you turn it on so it's visible in the viewport - this will help a LOT). Good luck!

[_Atti_]

thanks for the tips..i will start trying with a barrel.. than i will move to some more rough stuff..

[_Atti_]

YAYY..took some time but here it is..

a barrel normalmapped

[Fingernail]

I've just got comfortable doing normalmaps in Lightwave, it's easy, but my UV maps need tweaking to make the best use of space...cylindrical shapes suck (end caps take up room).

 

Anyway, you should see some pipes soon. Also I need to make the normalmaps smoother...they're a bit rough atm.

[pakmannen]

Wow, that is an awsome barrel Atti!

[_Atti_]

thanks

 

Deepomega: how can i get that into the game....i know how to use the editor,i just want to ask what kinda expoter do i need?

and thanks again for the lot of help

[TYROT]

dear Atti

 

VERY NICE BARREL...man..Hope you have good drink inside:)

 

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