Model a First Person Weapon

This Exercise is part of the course: Modeling Weapons for a First Person Shooter

Blocking the Pistol
To start out, we'll take our concept art and translate it into a simple 3D model to see if the design holds up in first person view.
Refining the Pistol
Once all the pieces are in place, we'll need to adjust the design so that it is as appealing as possible for the player.
High Poly Detailing
Make your gun stand out in-game by adding bevels, normal decals, and structural details.
Low Poly Modeling
After adding all the details, we create a duplicate low-poly version that can be used in-game.
UV Mapping
Create a near-perfect UV layout by placing seams and playing a little Blender Tetris.
Baking Normals
Transfer the high poly details onto the low poly model with normal map baking.
Wrapping Up
Congrats on finishing the course! In the final lesson we'll export the pistol to Unity and make a few last adjustments.

Interested in this Exercise?

Watch the course trailer to see what's inside, read the about tab, and then start learning on CG Cookie today.

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Software: Blender 2.78
Difficulty:

Time to show off your modeling skills

Now that you've watched the Modeling Weapons for a First Person Shooter course, your assignment is to model a weapon of your own! You can either model the pistol as shown in the course, the rocket launcher or rifle as shown in the concept art, one from your favorite video game, or from your own imagination! If you choose to do one not shown in the concept art, please include a link to your reference image.

Just like in a studio, you'll be expected to keep your model low-poly enough to run smoothly in game. The limit for this exercise is 15,000 tris.

Steps to complete:

1. Model a high-poly weapon

2. Create a low-poly version of your weapon

3. Bake the high-poly normals onto the low-poly model

4. Upload the low-poly weapon, with normal maps, to Sketchfab

5. Submit your Sketchfab URL (the one at the top of the browser)

Example:

If you need help

Don't hesitate to post your progress or ask questions in the Community!

Rules of the Exercise

1

Weapon model must appear functional
2

Model must be less than 15,000 triangles
3

Model must have an artifact-free normal map that includes beveled edges and additional details

d

Sketchfab upload issue (smoothing)

3 answers · asked December 19, 2017 11:04am

d

Jesse Y
3 answers · asked December 19, 2017 11:04am

Sketchfab upload issue (smoothing)

Uploading the model into sketchfab doesn't seem to work as-is. None of the smoothing settings are being applied, even after enabling the normal map option and uploading the texture. Searching around people are saying that for smoothing to work with Blender models, we'll need to add and apply the Edge Split modifier. Is this the case? I tried using it on 1 section of my model and it does seem to help.

I don't remember Edge Split being mentioned at all in this series (though there was a quiz question related to this) and I don't remember seeing it in the modifier stack in any of the videos. Is this really necessary when exporting to sketchfab?

3 Answers

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Jonathan Lampel

Level 8

Rank: 5

Hi there, I’m a 3D artist and designer for the CG Cookie crew. Outside the studio I’m a big fan of hiking, reading, watching movies, writing, and consuming excessive amounts of tea.