[Amnesia] Screenshot criticism thread

[JonnyAnomaly]

I followed that tutorial, its a really good one to learn some of the basics of this stuff as well as some great techniques for making good looking assets. Its worth watching the whole of the tutorial as he explains a lot of the reasons you have to do it a certain way. You don't have to lose the high poly version of the rock, you just use its detail to fake geometry and detail in the low poly where there is none. Its always good to save the project, or just export your high poly to .obj or something, just in case you need to go back to it for whatever reason.

In your screenshot, have you got the normal map applied to the rock? I can see the diffuse texture but not the detail and depth given by a normal map that you generate from the high poly rock.

Definately watch the tutorial you posted, I started to explain some things here but its all really well explained in the video.

[Rapture]

@Kyrpa - Is that a chipped/flaking white wall texture, or a white tree texture (Also chipped/flaking)?

[jssjr90]

Not that experienced with sculpting programs and my modelling skills aren't that far along so can't help you there Khyrpa, sorry.

Anyway, finished this up. I went for optimization in this map and I have succeeded, but I think it still looks good enough for screenies.

How did you get the bloom/glow effect around the fireplace? Is it a billboard?

[Khyrpa]

In your screenshot, have you got the normal map applied to the rock? I can see the diffuse texture but not the detail and depth given by a normal map that you generate from the high poly rock.

Definately watch the tutorial you posted, I started to explain some things here but its all really well explained in the video.

Yes, there is a normal map, but its simply made by pasting the diffuse into photoshop and running xnormal's plugin once. I tried to mess with it, duplicate, overlay, blur, sharpen and such, but it looked really pixelated close by.

@Kyrpa - Is that a chipped/flaking white wall texture, or a white tree texture (Also chipped/flaking)?

Its a simple rock texture from cg textures stamped into the model. Doesn't look like a rock because it lacks ambient occlusion and cavity maps or whatever theyre called. I also feel the details of the texture arent the right size for the model.

Well expect more rocks in the near future here...

[FlawlessHappiness]

Not that experienced with sculpting programs and my modelling skills aren't that far along so can't help you there Khyrpa, sorry.

Anyway, finished this up. I went for optimization in this map and I have succeeded, but I think it still looks good enough for screenies.

How did you get the bloom/glow effect around the fireplace? Is it a billboard?

He put a billboard there.

It's good, but the shadows aren't all realistic. How would the fire be able to cast light on something that is above it?

[JonnyAnomaly]

Khyrpa - Use xNormal (not the plugin, http://www.xnormal.net/Downloads.aspx) to generate a normal map from the high poly model. You only need to make a normal map from the diffuse texture when you are not working from a high poly mesh. The difference in results you gain from creating a normal map using a high poly mesh compared to generating a normal map from a diffuse texture are drastic. There is a section in that tutorial where he shows you all the settings and explains what they are. By the end of it, you should have a normal map which will closely resemble your original high poly version, depending on how many tris your low poly has.

[FlawlessHappiness]

It just seems like the fire casts no shadow at all. I'm aware that some light has to be there, and the walls that turn away from the fire are lit up just as they should be. The stove itself just doesn't seem to cast any shadow at all.

[FlawlessHappiness]

Oh yea yea, the fire is casting shadows, of course It's the stove itself. Sorry for my mis-writing. The wall. It might have 'cast shadows' checked, but it doesn't look like it because of the point light...

But drop it. It's not that big of a deal

[FlawlessHappiness]

^_^ Sure! I get ya!

[Khyrpa]

Well I tried it again.



Its getting there. Looking okay in its normal scale, just has quite a bit of tris (927). Going to try if meshlab deals with reducing faces better than zbrush next time.