I Made This 3ds Max V-Ray first Project

[epicfail331]

Hello Edge!
This is my first project with 3ds Max. I know it isn't Edge related (working on something like that next) but I wanted to show it off since it came out better than I thought it would at render. It's Obi Wan Kenobis Lightsaber. When I figure out how to bake a normal/bump map I might just toss it into Skyrim or something.

 

[Lethedethius]

holy moly. That thing is nice man! You want to make some models for a game I'm working on? e-mail me at [email protected] if interested

 

[epicfail331]

Thanks! I sent an email.

 

[epicfail331]

I definitely need to learn about normals. That model has 146,768 polys and 73,695 verts. If I were to put that in Skyrim my poor craptop would cry when I picked it up. Though in game I would be able to see every detail from the slideshow this model would produce

 

[_Ace]

That looks awsome!!

 

[epicfail331]

Thanks Mason!

 

[Narh]

Been a few years since I was last in 3ds, but If i remember correctly:

(Not an exact step-by-step)

1) Make a low poly Mesh
2) Overlay the High poly inside the Low Poly
3) Add a Projection Modifier to the High Poly(?)
3a) Play around with the settings
4) Bake

 

[epicfail331]

Thanks Narh. I'll search out a detailed tut for that.

 

[Narh]

I use Zbrush more often so I've forgotten a lot with 3DS . Steep learning curve, but the tools it come with just blow 3DS out of the water in most areas. Especially with UV unwrapping and low poly creation (Decimation tool ftw).
If you can afford it I highly recommend it.

 

[epicfail331]

I thought of getting it instead but I heard about the learning curve. I watched a couple of videos on it and it seems way better in some areas than 3ds Max. I watched a guy sculpt an amazing heightmap for Cryengine 3 that was better than what World Machine could do regarding erosion etc. Can't do that in Max unfortunately.
EDIT: He used Mudbox. My bad.

 

[epicfail331]

Hey Narh, what kind of low poly should I do for this?
I mean how close to the original (high-poly) shape should it be?

 

[Narh]

Your're going to want it to be very similar (shape wise) if you want to Normals to look right. Use lots of Bevels / chamfer on edges and keep it simple. On hard edges (Like the ends of the saber), make very thin polys along both sides of the edge (like so)

That will "negate" any smoothing around the affected edges, making them appear sharp.
Easy way of doing that would be to select the lines, apply a connection, and push it down to the edge.

 

[epicfail331]

Ok, I see what you're getting at. The only ting I wonder about is the back end (bottom, the black section) of the hilt as I extrude/beveled it to make the fins. I'll go to an earlier save of it and just try to keep the shape with less polys. Thanks!

 

[epicfail331]

Would this be good as a low poly model?

[/IMG]

 

[Narh]

Looks pretty solid/