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Quake Project: Monster Models for Quake Mod

ZBrush Artworks
#21

All done. I added a little bump map to him, and gave some teeth, and toenails.

Here he is in all his normal mapped glory.

[](javascript:zb_insimg(‘21444’,‘Shambler_Normal_01.jpg’,1,0))

On a bit of a side note, I just saw how many monsters I’m gonna have to do, and I’m a little gob-smacked. Now that this guy’s done, I have 14 more monsters to go. So what I’m gonna do is, make another thread that will show my progress on ALL of them as I work on them. It’ll be a big project, but I think it’ll be fun to watch me kinda scramble to make the deadline. :smiley:

Till next time then, thanks for the comments, and look for the new thread which will popup as soon as I post it.

#22

hey jeremy this looks great! glad you got it sorted out. did you ever get the last one rigged? how’d that go?

if the other folks on the mod team don’t mind, please do post textured screenies of these guys when they’re ready (i know you’re not doing the textures but still be cool to see em). looking forward to seeing the rest either way. good luck with it!

#23

Hey, Pete, thanks! I’m starting to get the hang of the whole normal map thing. The only problem I’m having now is getting my high-res models into Max to do the normals… Ah well, when ZMapper gets here, maybe that’ll solve that problem. :wink:

I’ll talk to the mod lead, and see what he thinks about posting the textured versions, but I highly doubt he’ll have a problem with it. If things go smoothly enough with the rest of the models, I’ll probably end up doing some texturing too. Of course that’s IF things go smoothly, and the deadline doesn’t creap to close by the time I’m done. I’m thinking about doing the Wizard next. That’ll be this little pain. I’m not sure yet though, I kinda wanna get the harder guys out of the way first, so I’m not completely out of steam by the end, and end up churning out some turd just to get it done in time.

#24

that model’s looking great!

I have the same problem with max not showing the normal map correctly (i tried the flip red/etc thing, only partly work).
This is a dumb question, but what excatly do you guys mean by flipping the uvs in max?
Originially I flipped the normal map in photoshop, do you mean instead of flipping that, do it in max to the UVs instead? I’d greatly appreciate any directions. I’m not getting much help at all from my teacher.

#25

Thanks, Dty, glad you like him.

As far as the flipping of uv’s thing goes, sometimes when you’re editing uv’s, you can’t tell it right away, but they’re facing backwards. Usually the fix for that is to go into your uv editor, select the problem parts, and hit the mirror button. This didn’t work for me this time, cause for whatever reason, Max and ZB didn’t wanna communicate properly. I had to group the models parts (arms, legs, torso, head, hands) in ZB, and export them seperately to get them into Max, one at a time, so I could do the normal mapping there. After that, it was just a matter of stitching all the normal maps into one in photoshop, with a little bit of clean up.

I hope that helps, if not, then keep posting your problems, and I’ll see if I can help.

#26

i really like your progress and wish you the best of luck on this project!

:b4: Logick:b4:

#27

Thanks, Logick. I’ve started the Wizard model, and I gotta say, I’m starting to really like zspheres. I had no idea how much my base meshes were hindering my modeling skills. I used the same base mesh on a lot of my models, and the edge flow kinda dictated the way I modeled, instead of having my skills dictate the way I modeled. I used zspheres for the Shambler model, and the Wizard model I just started, and I’m really liking the way I can just whip up a low poly frame, send it to Max, and edit specific areas, and do the uv’s.

I was struggling with low poly work before, especially trying to keep it LOW poly enough for actual game engines to run, not these mythical engines where a nothing character can have 8-12000 poly’s. Zspheres are just making my lowpoly life a LOT easier.

Oh, and I decided I’m not gonna make a new thread, I’m just gonna rename this one, and keep the whole Quake modeling project here. It would be kinda redundant to post a new thread, so why do it?

Look for updates soon. The Wizard model is coming along rather fast.

#28

cool model so far! i just dont understand why do u have to bring the highrez into max to do the normals maps instead of just using zb to make them?Or maybe there’s something im missing?

#29

Hey, Abe, thanks, I’m glad you like him.

I have to do the normal maps in Max, because as of now, Max does MUCH better normal maps. ZB’s results are pretty unpredictable, and if there’s the slightest thing wrong, it can ruin the map. I’m sure that’ll change when ZMapper comes out, though.

#30

i see…im using maya sometime to sample the normal maps too from a high rez but for other reasons (after rebuilding an animation version of the model) and it’s true that sometimes zbrush doesn’t do a great job on the normal maps…but If your Uv a clean and well placed (with the pelt mapper and the auto re-sizeUv of max 8) you shouldn’t have those troubles …Guess it’s to be tested and depends on the model ure working on…

did have to use the zbrush normals as I had problems with areas like ears, fingers etc…How good is the sampler in max?
Trying to find the best way to get that much info on a low polys :slight_smile:
Please post more of ure work soon! i love monsters :slight_smile: can u also put the complete high rez model

#31

That’s weird, I didn’t get an email for your reply…

First off, that model looks great, good work you got there. The abs stretch a bit far across the stomach, but it’s not that noticable on first glance.

I don’t know why I’m getting bad normal maps with ZB. I really don’t understand it. I started the Wizard model, and just as a test, I made a normal map with ZB to see how my uv’s are, and it still looked awful, with flipped colors in certain areas. One of those areas was right in the middle of a uv chunk, so it’s not the uv’s fault.

The sampler in Max is very good. I’m really happy with the normal maps I can make with it. You have to turn it on, and there’s some settings you need to be aware of, but after you get used to that, it’s a breeze. There’s a really good tutorial on making normal maps in Max at http://www.poopinmymouth.com Ignore the URL name, it REALLY is a 3d 2d place, and the guy who runs it, Ben Mathis, is a fantastic artist.

About the high-res version of my model, the lasat high-res post I made was it. All I did afterwards was add teeth and toenails, which I had to do seperate to get them into Max.

Now, onto the update. This is what I have for the Wizard so far.

[attach=21494]Wizard_02.jpg[/attach]

There’s still a good amoutn of work to do on him, but he’s a pretty simple character, so it shouldn’t take long. Lemme know what you think so far.

#32

And another quick update…

[](javascript:zb_insimg(‘21496’,‘Wizard_03.jpg’,1,0))

#33

great update! :+1:

i’ll be lurking but don’t want to spam the board telling you how great you are! whine if you need a l’il encouragement but keep posting… :wink:

nice work abe! :+1:

#34

Hey, thanks Pete. As long as I know you’re keeping an eye on this thread, I 'll be happy. :wink: Of course, you can always feel free to tell me I’m good. :smiley:

The teeth were bugging me, I couldn’t get a good look with the way they were, so again, I’m gonna do them seperate. Just doing that makes him look a lot better, so I’ll post an update when I get his mouth to a presentable level.

Oh, and after this guy’s done, which shouldn’t be too long from now, I’m gonna start on the hellknight, since he’s probably gonna be one of the more difficult models to make.

#35

I think I might have found a work around for my ZB normal map problem.

I had to seperate the model into groups to get it into Max, and just to see what would happen, I isolated the torso and made that normalmap, and it looks just fine. I’m gonna test the rest of the chunks that way, and see what happens, but I thought anyone with the same problem might like to know this right away in case it works for them.

I’ll post the update of the normal mapped version when I get them done.

#36

looks good so far…i think you chould resize the top (or the bottom part to make it have a more natural flow…there is a too big difference i think right now :slight_smile:
i like his facial expression …very nasty look :slight_smile: (probably the kind of thing you’d expect from this guy :wink:
waiting for your other posts!

#37

Thanks, Abe for the comments. I’ll check into that size thing, good eyes. :wink:

Here’s a quick update of what I have for now. I added some skin stuff, which I will be editing more to better cover the body, I’m going to change his mouth somehow, but I’m not too sure, I just didnt like the way it was. Various other little things as well.

Anyway, enjoy.

[EDIT] I forgot to mention, yes I know he looks like an old toothless gramma right now, but I will be adding some teeth, so ignore that part for now :wink:

#38

And another update. I changed his upper body size a bit, and elongated his tail, though it’s hard to see from this angle. I also added some more skin details, and changed his chin a bit.

[attach=21561]Wizard_06.jpg[/attach]

I’m thinking the high-res is pretty close to done. If there’s anything you think I should change, now’s the time to speak up.

#39

the skin work looks great so far…i still think some placement is needed for the mass of the body…the tail is short and probably wouldn’t carry such a big weight (if that creature would have ever existed :wink:
i wasn’t sure with the front view but now that you’ve posted the side one, i think the chest muscle has to much difference between each group…
here a fast crap drawing showing how i see it :slight_smile:
Hope ull find any use of it :wink:
Anyway good work! cant wait to see 'em textured :wink:
[attach=24115]Wizard_04[1].jpg[/attach]

Attachments

Wizard_04[1].jpg

#40

Yeah, I can see what you mean, but I’m also trying to stick to the original design from the game. I’m assuming you haven’t played it, or at least haven’t played it in a while. The guy flies so the tail isn’t for support on the ground, it’s pretty much just dressing.

That is a killer drawing by the way, very inspiring stuff there. I will be taking some of those suggestions into consideration. I’m making the low-poly head right now, since the first low-poly head was awful, so I’ve still got some time to edit the guy.

Thanks a lot for that, I’ll definitely try and get him a bit closer to your drawing there. :wink:

[EDIT] Ok, how’s this for the tail? I also changed the pecs some, but those bumpy parts are part of his original design, and I kinda wanna keep them there. They’re more bone than muscle.

[attach=21563]WizRetail.jpg[/attach]