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Author Topic: W.I.P. Potential new soldier models (Blender)  (Read 36778 times)

Offline Destructavator

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W.I.P. Potential new soldier models (Blender)
« on: March 20, 2009, 03:10:04 am »
I've gotten past the harder parts of getting a mesh out of MakeHuman and into Blender for making new soldier models that might be easier to animate, and this would also mean we would have source .blend files unlike the existing MD2 soldier models that aren't in the data source.

What I've figured out is that I can use the ShrinkWrap function in blender to make the sections (pants, shirt, etc.) and slightly displace them larger by a slight amount to make them look like clothing.  So far I've just made the pants, belt, and some temporary boots (I know they look awful now, but I'll fix them), but after this point it should be relatively easy to make the other parts.

The grey model parts are part of the new model, the darker-colored body with the head is just a guide, imported from MakeHuman, and will *not* be in the final version of the model - I'm just modeling and shrinkwrapping around it, once the whole thing is done it will be deleted, leaving just the clothing and actual model (armor, boots, etc.).

I also created a female model in MakeHuman, although I didn't start working on it yet - I'll do one at a time.

Obviously this one isn't finished yet, but once I get the other sections I can try to texture the soldier body, then submit it as usual to Winter, BTAxis, etc.

I also have some ideas for adding armor in different ways, for the armor and suit types.

At some point I'll try new heads with helmets, but for now I'm just building the bodies.

[attachment deleted by admin]

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Re: W.I.P. Potential new soldier models (Blender)
« Reply #1 on: March 20, 2009, 03:47:37 am »
Here's one with the upper body, no hands or neck yet.

I guess this could be the start of a soldier without any armor, in case the player forgets or runs out of armor to put on a soldier...

Adding armor parts by building on top of this shouldn't be too difficult.

[attachment deleted by admin]

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Re: W.I.P. Potential new soldier models (Blender)
« Reply #2 on: March 20, 2009, 03:57:54 am »
Before I do the hands, are the hands of the models all one "mitten"-like piece?  I know the fingers aren't individually animated, but should there even be thumbs?  Or are all five digits always glued together?

Offline vedrit

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Re: W.I.P. Potential new soldier models (Blender)
« Reply #3 on: March 20, 2009, 06:22:08 am »
Looking at the older models, I would have to say yes, the thumb is part of the "mitten"

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Re: W.I.P. Potential new soldier models (Blender)
« Reply #4 on: March 20, 2009, 03:53:44 pm »
Okay, then I'm guessing this model should also have the same thing for hands...

I did some work on the boots, I also decimated some parts to knock down the polycount, screenshot attached.

[attachment deleted by admin]

Offline BTAxis

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Re: W.I.P. Potential new soldier models (Blender)
« Reply #5 on: March 20, 2009, 04:37:54 pm »
Is it me, or does the torso look like a crumpled paper bag?

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Re: W.I.P. Potential new soldier models (Blender)
« Reply #6 on: March 20, 2009, 04:45:18 pm »
Hmmm...  I think you might have a point there...

Fortunately I think I can fix that with a little work.

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Re: W.I.P. Potential new soldier models (Blender)
« Reply #7 on: March 21, 2009, 12:24:45 am »
I did some work on the torso, also reducing the polycount more, and thought I'd give the guy a hand, two of them in fact...

Question: I'm almost to the point of adding a holster and pockets and stuff, and I can easily add shoulder patches for the logo used by the player's forces (I saw it floating around this forum somewhere), but should I also add the rectangular shoulder things for the soldier's "stripes" (bars that indicate rank)?  At this point this version will eventually try to be the unarmored version - just a basic uniform, later I'll try adding to it to make versions wearing armor.

EDIT: I just noticed in the screenshot it might look like there is a strange gap under the shoulder closer to the camera - there actually isn't a gap, it really has to do with the angle of the view when I took the screenshot, the model really looks better than this - sorry for the poor screenshot.  (It may vary depending on the computer screen your looking at it with.)

[attachment deleted by admin]
« Last Edit: March 21, 2009, 12:27:41 am by Destructavator »

Offline BTAxis

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Re: W.I.P. Potential new soldier models (Blender)
« Reply #8 on: March 21, 2009, 12:31:59 am »
Looks better now.

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Re: W.I.P. Potential new soldier models (Blender)
« Reply #9 on: March 21, 2009, 01:04:02 am »
...added a neck, a small holder on the belt for gear on one side, and another for a pistol on the other side.

[attachment deleted by admin]

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Re: W.I.P. Potential new soldier models (Blender)
« Reply #10 on: March 21, 2009, 08:13:43 am »
the shape looks nice - but you still have to clean up the mesh imo.

i don't know how to do that in blender, but max has a mirror feature. you can define an axis to mirror against. that way you only have to model one side and your stuff is always in sync.

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Re: W.I.P. Potential new soldier models (Blender)
« Reply #11 on: March 21, 2009, 11:52:25 am »
That's a good idea - I've seen "mirror" options in Blender's menus I haven't played with yet, I'll try that, thanks.

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Re: W.I.P. Potential new soldier models (Blender)
« Reply #12 on: March 21, 2009, 11:34:06 pm »
All right, this one I'm more proud of, it has a sh**load less polys, is simpler so it should be easier to work with, and I re-did the feet.

[attachment deleted by admin]

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Re: W.I.P. Potential new soldier models (Blender)
« Reply #13 on: March 22, 2009, 04:42:07 am »
Thought I'd try out the texture controls in Blender, seeing as I've never used them before, just to learn them even though the mesh may need more work.


Hmmm... It seems I can't texture worth a da**.  Then again, considering this is the very first time I've textured anything - in Blender or otherwise - I suppose it could have come out uglier, but not by much.

I already have a mental picture of how I'd like it to look, unfortunately this isn't it.

If any experienced modelers who know texturing want to offer advice, by all means please speak up.

[attachment deleted by admin]

Offline vedrit

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Re: W.I.P. Potential new soldier models (Blender)
« Reply #14 on: March 22, 2009, 07:07:28 am »
you can adjust the UV location. Its one of the window views....

And fewer polys isnt always better. You could put a couple more vertecies in.