High lvl detail on gun models?

#1 Higher triangle count....more rounded surfaces? Shaders?

#2 I had never done it so was just wondering the steps needed lol.
Thanks for the info, I will look into it.

#3 This Polycount thread highlights a typical (good) example: www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=83560

You create a very high-poly model of your weapon, and "bake" it down to a low-poly model of your weapon (creating a normal map), then you paint a diffuse, specular, and any other maps you may need and call it good. Apply shaders where needed.

More artist are trending to a style that focuses primarily on the high poly model in z-brush or mudbox, doing most of the heavy lifting well before they "retopo" it as a low poly game-ready model.

#4 wow very nice. Can all that be done with milk shape or should I start saving for better higher modeling software?

Thanks

#5 Milkshape was designed for low poly work, so I would have to say no, it can't really do what that video shows. But it is more than adequate for most gaming model needs.

#6 Milkshape can be used in the pipeline, however blender is better...plus its free :). If you want to learn how to create high quality game art zbrush or mudbox is a must. Zbrush is like $650 and mudbox is like $745, I would try out demos of each first before purchasing as they are very different though they serve essentially the same function. See which one is more intuitive to you. However also consider zbrush is a one time purchase with free upgrades to each new release were mudbox has a fee associated with its yearly upgrade. You can also obtain a fully functioning version of mudbox from autodesk free with a .edu email address and use it for 3 years provided it is not used for commercial reasons, but is still a great option for someone trying to learn the trade.

#7 3D Coat is also great for this sort of work 3d-coat.com
Seems to do everything the big names do at half the price.

#8 http://www.pixologic.com/sculptris/

#9 If I were you I would buy Z-brush which includes Sculptris. Its by far the best valued software on the market only costing $699. They only thing you have to worry about is an animation software.

#10 I skimmed over that video and it seems like a pretty good overview of getting normal mapped art into a game. I got a glimpse of him overlaying a normal map though and I wouldn't recommend doing it that way. Instead check out this tool we use internally: http://www.philipk.net/ndo.html

nDo comes with a photoshop action for combining normal maps. Doing it other ways may slightly mess up your shading. nDo does a lot of other things too, check out some more of it's uses here: http://www.philipk.net/tutorials/ndo/ndo.html

As for inexpensive 3d software.. I would check out the latest version of Blender (2.58a).. which is free and open source. I didn't like previous versions of blender (pre 2.5) because of it's un user-friendly UI and un-configurable hotkeys.. but since 2.5 they've rebuilt blender from the ground up. Even though it's currently a bit unstable and their modelling tools are pretty barebones at the moment, I think it has a very bright future and it's definitely worth checking out.

If you do check it out, make sure to turn on the maya interaction preset (you can select it through the drop down in the splash image that pops up when the program first starts). Some people swear by the default blender hotkeys and mouse setup, but I personally think it's just adds a really steep learning curve without much pay off. Plus if you ever need to use other 3d programs, you'll have a harder time switching back and forth.

At GarageGames we primarily use 3ds Max, Photoshop, Zbrush, and xNormal.

#11 I <3 nDo very cool tool....Also sculptris in its current state is free of charge, pretty cool for a free sculpting tool.