Right, getting myself grounded here! I have an idea of a flamboyant, jewel encrusted sword being wedged into a rock akin to Excalibur, lets see how it goes!
Day 2 Done!
So first of all before I show anything I'll just say that I haven't had time to check everyone's threads today. Combination of voluntary work, doctor's appointments and the sheer lot of you (seriously, I think this might be the most popular class yet, it's really neat to see) and due to it being 4AM I am cream-crackered as the Cockneys say.
Whilst I did tweak the model of the sword some more I mostly spent myself working on the background, but hopefully when all is done there will be a nice balance of both. I also worked a little bit more on the composition and lighting but considering that's not the focus of this week I'm just going to leave it as it is for now and concentrate solely on modeling.
Eww, that denoising glitch...
One thing I'd like to point out though is that in the previous render I did due to the case having a glass shader the lights reflected in a really ugly manner, so for now I've replaced it with a transparent BSDF until I can figure out a balance between good looking glass and not having them gross white bars. Any kind of advice would be appreicated!
That's me done for the night, gonna be quite busy IRL again but hopefully not so much that I can't check in with the lot of you. Have a good day and Happy Blending!
thecabbagedetective well if i recall how the past classes were, you can do things in advance, but i think posting the actual homework submission early was not ok. WIP stuff ofcourse was ok.
@theluthier could prolly correct me if i'm wrong.
I am cream-crackered as the Cockneys say.
I'm guessing this means yo're knackered? Still good progress despite all the things happening in your life.
As for the glass thing, I'm not terribly familiar with that, so I would also appreciate any tips and tricks.
louhikarme Actually I'm 100% OK with submitting final homework early because then they're all not stacked up at once the Monday after they're due. Of course I'd only want them submitted early if done completely. I definitely don't want half-done work submitted early.
I may have stated otherwise in a previous class...hard for me to remember honestly 😅
@theluthier you stated in previous classes that submitting early was okay, as long as it was in the same week as that homework assignment was due :) no week 3 homework submissions in week 1 :-p
Just a quick update in that my health seems to be getting worse so I'm just calling it quits today. I was suspected of being really stressed so I was practically pulled away from my PC and am now forced to relax for rest of the day (or night I guess). Can't show you any screenshots because I'm typing this from my phone but I added more background details and shattered one of the glass panes. Hopefully all goes well and I'll be back on track tomorrow. Have a good one and Happy Blending!
thecabbagedetective I hope you feel better tomorrow, take care and rest well <3
jack07 silentheart00 ssmurfmier1985 spikeyxxx Just wanna say thanks for your support.!It seems like it's just a combination of stress, allergies and asthma that's been inflamed by said allergies. As long as I take is slow and be careful with any and all meds I should be fine.
Days 3 and 4 Done!
So after realizing what my health problems were I started to work more on this, albeit not a lot. I decided to "stylize" the sword more, exaggerating it's proportions (though more work could be done on that) and adding more details. One day left, so hopefully I can wrap everything up nicely!
Still wouldn't mind some advice on making it so the ugly white bars don't appear with a glass shader, don't suppose you could offer some advice @theluthier? Either way, have a good day all and Happy Blending!
Also as a sidenote: Was looking up tutorials on how to shatter glass using the cell fracture add on and happened on this old video from 2013 with a very familiar voice. Small world, huh?
Homework Week 1 Submission
So not gonna lie, little bit disappointed with how the turned out. Stuff like I didn't get to finish certain parts like the floorboards (though I can always add to that in the coming days), not adding more to the background (see previous) and the sword overall feeling... bleh to me, at least when I compare it to the other submissions. Maybe I can use the stress and inexperience with low poly as an excuse? Maybe I'm too hard on myself? I don't know, but what I do know is I must do better.
I tried experimenting with volumetrics for creepy fog but it wasn't working out plus really long render times so I decided to put that on the backburner for now. I was also debating writing the story now but I feel a lot of said story will also be told through the textures and overall atmosphere of the finished scene so I'm gonna hold off on it for. But if you look closely, you may be able to figure a few things out for yourself...
Here's a closeup of the hilt area, which arguably has the most detail on it:
Like I said, disappointed with the modeling overall, so I'm praying my texturing skills will be able to carry me and make it look halfway decent. I look forward to your judgement and hopefully you can steer me in the right direction, maybe I can even apply some of it before the next stream? Thanks in advance.
thecabbagedetective Now that I'm seeing the final model, you picked a complex one for sure. That ornamental hand guard is tricky stuff. Considering that, you pulled it off quite well!
I've got two main notes: First, a potential damage inconsistency. The blade looks like it's been to hell and back while the handle and looks relatively unscathed. I see a tiny nick in the pommel, but by comparison to the blade it's notably undamaged. You could either add damage details to the handle for consistency or remove most of the damage from the blade. Or meet in the middle: Add a little damage to the handle and remove a little from the blade.
Second note is about the lighting. Really it's a week 3 exercise, but since you're starting now you'll have plenty of time to polish the lighting. Currently the lighting is lacking focus and proper value range to me. The center light on the sword is providing decent rim light but there's not enough showcasing the sword as a whole. So it get's a bit lost, fighting for attention with the rim light on the case and most-lit area (the floor). Here's couple images from my reference collection that could help:
None of them are featuring a weapon but they're all silhouette-heavy with dark ambient light and strong key liights. The illumination from below in the last one could be a cool way to light your sword in the case (like a light panel as the floor of the case). Do your own thing though!
As for a homework grade, you have definitely earned an A. Way to go, sir! 👊
thecabbagedetective Hey, I think as long as the focus of the assignment (the sword) is where you like it, then it's a job well done.
thecabbagedetective The hilt looks good! If you nail the texturing, it'll be even better.
thecabbagedetective The glass is broken from the inside out, it's like the sword was trying to break free. Away thy evil spirits, this sword is possessed.