BLaaR, on 31 January 2012 - 07:44 PM, said:
Once again thank you for you generosity. Like I said these will be put to good use. Soon they will be found in mass production and will make a welcome addition to the paper mech army I know the community is going to enjoy each and every one of them.
Last question, When I release them as paper mech models, can I credit them as CBT Mechs and I always credit the original artist, which alias do you want me to credit you with , the one here or your deviant art alias ?
You can use my real name. I sign most of my completed art with it. Just click a scene render and look in the bottom right corner. Or you can go with Lizzy "Lady Die" G. and link back to my dA page.
warpig07, on 31 January 2012 - 08:26 PM, said:
i admire your texturing abilities. Mine are very lacking. any tips?
I started doing art in a very traditional manner. Painting, drawing, sculpting,etc. A lot of those traditional skills can translate over to the digital medium (photoshop, paintshop pro, 3D Studio, Blender, etc.).
The main key to making good texture maps is to use and apply real photos of materials. Chipped and scratched paint, worn metal, caked mud, etc.
For these models I start with building the low polygon design first. This in order to keep to my assigned limits. When I get the shape and proportions correct, I save that and start replacing the parts with higher detail pieces. When the detailed model is complete, I render that into a texture (usually refereed to as baking a texture). These days software will also draw out Bump/Height, Specular (shine and gloss, like polished metal or glass), and Normal maps (normal maps tell a game engine where to draw highlights and shadows under different light settings).
Ok, I've rendered the base model, got my texture maps and have an unwrapped low poly model which matches the detailed model. When rendered on screen, the textured model should look like the detailed model. That's when the paint work begins.
Before I'd load both the low-poly in a 3D application and the texture map in Photoshop. I'd paint a camo scheme, place decals, etc on the 2D map, then render it out on the 3D model. Make adjustments, and save when I was satisfied.
These days I can just load a low poly model in Photoshop CS5 and paint directly onto a model, then refine the design's 2D texture map separately. Or I can load a model into ZBrush and use that for adding fine details to a low poly model.
There are plenty of tutorials online on how to paint in Photoshop or whatever program you like to use. Those techniques when modified a little work well when making texture maps.
Edited by HanaYuriko, 12 February 2012 - 11:31 PM.