Here's where I am.
The top image of the cliffs/rocks is what I wanted help on- I'm not sure how to best go about making a normal map from it. From above some of my ground textures tile pretty badly but from play-in-editor view it's a bit harder to notice. Airplane is currently a diffuse texture only (2048x2048 w/ 256 lightmap resolution.)
Hi John,
ReplyDeleteSorry I didn't get to talk to you in person today but I will give you as detailed of feedback as I can.
I like how the plane is coming out, but I still think it needs work. The bottom of the plane is too different from the top. It looks like a make shift plane, not like a commercial airplane because of that. I would like if you could take all that metal detail you have on the bottom and add white paint on top and then add the metal texture to the top of the plane. Basically I think that that white on the top of the plane is too basic of a color and can stand to have some of that metal texture that is on the bottom and add white to the bottom so it looks like painted metal. Don't forget to add more detail onto the nose and to make it the same color as the body. I would also shorten the nose on the model. Take a look at more photos of planes for the nose size and detail. Also, the yellow where the engines need more detail. I want to see the turbines inside. As for the front windows let's give that move detail too. Even if they're black, they would still have some reflective light coming off of them. You can have this as a blueish white. Lastly, fix the uvs so the lines are straight. They are getting a bit wavy toward the front.
Ok, so now onto the ground textures. I like the cracked dry dirt so far although I would like to see all the textures on the ground in Unreal and not the material editor and in Photoshop so I can better evaluate them. On the cracked dirt your spec looks colored and bumps and spec should be in gray scale. I see a lot of repetition going on in your cliff texture from stamping so i don't think it is ready for a normal yet. I would mix it with a similar, but different texture so you can get more variation.
Lastly, for the tarmac, shouldn't it be black or gray or will that be your 4th ground texture? The texture doesn't quite make sense for a runway if it is to stay the dirt.
All in all, I like the effort that I see you putting in, so let's push these textures from a good start to fantastic! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Regarding the plane: Your criticisms largely make sense, but I feel the need to explain myself/ask for elaboration on a couple. First, while I agree with you that more detail is needed, the different color of the nose is actually how a lot of noses in my reference airplane looked. The white/bare metal contrast needs a bit of work as well, but is also fairly well represented in the sort of look I was going for. See this photo: http://www.airliners.net/photo/National-Airlines/Boeing-727-235/0228527/L/ That having been said, all the prototypical attention to detail in the world means nothing if it's not reading properly and making sense, which seems to be the case with the engines (they're suppose to be covered over but that probably won't read clear enough,) so I'll need to take a look at those as well. As for the wavy UVs in the nose: yes, you're completely right, I need to fix them, I'm just not completely clear on how best to do it. I got to where they are now by manually tweaking and using the "Relax" function, but I didn't want to abuse the latter because it does stuff to UVs that I want to be straight. If you had some tips that would be great.
ReplyDeleteWow, that was way more than I intended to write. Anyway, onto the textures. I suppose you'd get the best look at them if I were to do as you suggest and post them from Unreal and Photoshop as well, so expect a blog post with that information in a little while.
Ok, after looking at your ref it is easier for me to see what you were going for but there are a couple of important differences that will make your texture much stronger. On the ref photo, the plane you are looking at plus all the planes in the background have a "division stripe" There is a stripe that helps the transition from the top color and the bottom color. The stark white and the gray bottom are so different that they don't transition they knock right into each other. My last suggestion is one way to fix it, but you can add another stripe that will transition one extreme color to the next. The next thing that will help is notice how the white on the plane is scuffed up especially on the nose and the front. This also helps the texture read as one piece and not 2 seperate pieces. Your top is too new and perfect, while your bottom is too run down. You need a middle ground for both of them to meet at. Does that make more sense?
ReplyDeleteAs for the engines, they definitely should not be covered. It is not reading properly especially if the plane isn't parked at a terminal. Show the turbines.
As for straightening out the uvs, don't forget about your align tools in the uv editor. They are most helpful when trying to get straight lines.
Alright, I see, thanks.
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