final reference piece for broadside model-

Admittedly, im quite out of practice with using my graphics tablet to draw using photoshop these days, after taking such an interest in the 3D modeling side of game design, so starting off this work flow was quite difficult to get going, despite how basic the images are, fortunately it seemed my muscle memory kicked in and i managed to get a pretty accurate reference image to work from.

Despite this being one image what ill now be doing is splitting the image into several pieces so that i can place them onto planes within maya so that i can begin making a start on creating my model. This will certainly not be my final pose that I will be putting my model in however, what i plan to do is model it in the this stance to begin with and then perhaps rig it or something like that to give me the ability to pose the model in any way that I please.
There will be a lot more detail on the model that i plan on adding in while i'm modeling, the reason i didnt include it in the model reference sheet was because i used my figure that i created and and the reference images i pieced together to put this work together, and on those pieces, the model is quite basic as it a simple minutre figurine, so I plan to add a lot more detail on the pieces that have flat boring plains like the sides of the jet pack like part of the model for example.
Also, the face will certainly not look quite as boring in the model as it does here, I will attempt to replicate the Tau head that I featured in my mood bored reference sheet that i posted in one of my previous blog posts for the head on this model.

Post primer model paint

Despite finishing putting together my reference model, I didn't like that there where parts of the model that where made of metal and some parts that where made of the grey plastic.
Using the model as a reference proved difficult with the two different materials present on the model, so I purchased a can of grey spray primer and layered the model in the primer to give it a nice even coat of the same grey all over. Now when i go back to view my reference model it will be a lot easier to pick up the details on the previously metallic parts of the model

Easter 3D Project

I've decided for this project that I want to model a detailed iteration of the Tau Broadside battlesuit from the warhammer 40k universe. So the first thing i      decided to do was go out and try and find the type of figure that I wanted to model to use as a real life visual reference when modelling the battlesuit in maya. There will of course be some visual differences between my final model and this figure as I don't want it to be exactly the same, but i didn't want to miss out on the opportunity of having a physical piece of reference as with my previous project I didn't have that luxury. 

Broadside battle suit inspirtation

So in this collage that i've made above, i have gathered together some images of broadside battle suit figures and some un-helmeted tau warriors. I have included to mixture as I would like to create something similar to what I have pieced together in the bottom right hand corner of my collage. I want to have the battlesuit with out a helmet on, instead having the alien looking tau head there instead and perhaps with a banner clipped onto his back, creating a sort of commander look to this model.
When it comes to creating my reference images to model from, ill incorperate all these traits into my final image, and also add a lot more battle damage to the model, as you can see in the images above of these figures they all look very new as if they have never seen battle, so i want to add some sort of burned effect around the missile gauntlets things and some blast marks on the chest and legs of the model so it looks like its been shot at few times. 

Final model show case in unreal 4

These screen shots above are my final renders of my laser rifle within my Unreal4 scene.
I tried adding as much clutter in the scene as possible in order to make it feel like the rifle has just been dropped there within a post apocalyptic world and is just gathering rust, dust and wear and tear.
If I had the ability to do so, I would of been really interested in modding my rifle into fallout 4 and using that to show case my model, a little bit over ambitious I'll admit, but it would of been a really effective way of displaying it. Especially as fallout 4 has a building system within it that would allow me to pose my laser rifle.

I am very pleased with my final outcome of my model however, I think I have really captured the over all post apocalypse feel with the weapon after putting it through quixel and applying the materials to it, it really started to take its shape. Now with those materials applied to my low poly within an unreal scene, its really brought out its true form. I would say however that im slightly disapointed with how the metal has come out on the rifle, comparing it to the screen shots I took from the quixel renders it seems a lot more darker than that one, but im certain thats due to my lighting settings within the engine so I completely accept that.

importing model into unreal 4

Above is a screen shot of both my high and low poly model after being imported into unreal engine 4. with all materials applied. To begin this process of importing I first exported both upper and lower part of the model as FBX files. From there I was able to import these two models into the assets folder within unreal4. What i noticed immediately within unreal was how the models would snap together if I moved one or the other, so this made connecting the two models a very easy process. 

I have shown the process of connecting the nodes that where required in order to create the right materials above. I firstly only used one lambert material during this process but I soon found that the two models required their own lambert material in order for them to display correctly. After re-exporting the bottom model with a new lambert I worked on importing the maps that i needed into the node editor and linking them up to the appropriate nodes.

I've now began working on creating my scene within unreal4 ready to display my laser rifle in an aesthetically pleasing way. I really want to try and recreate the post apocalyptic feel that you get within the fallout games with this scene, so there will be a lot of rust, a lot of rock and hopefully some chard skeletons?

Applying materials using Quixel

The Above screen shots are of my low poly model, imported into Quixel with my normal map applied. These images show the first stage that my upper model was in before I began applying quixels smart materials. It was great however to see the full effects of the baking process form the high poly too low poly, it was a fulfilling feeling when they matched up as well as they did. 

In this image above you can how my colour ID map effects my model. Essentially on this model, each colour will be assigned a different material, and so it's an easy way for me to apply the rusted metal next too the green barrel and micro fusion cell. I was happy too see how the writing that I applied to the colour ID map came out on the model, as it isn't noticeably distorted and it's all in the right places. 

After applying the Quixels smart materials, using my colour ID as a navigation, you can see above the outcome of the finished upper part of the rifle. What I like most about the model at this stage is how effected the colour ID was, especially with the writing and symbols on the left side of the gun. I simply applied a coloured paint texture too the text part of my colour ID and it really came out like it was written in the gun 200 years ago! (That's what I was going for)

These images are of the lower part of the model after I had imported it into Quixel the same way I did with the upper part. 

Originally I hadn't intended on adding a colour ID map to the lower part of the model, I originally just had one material that covered the whole bottom model, as going by reference, it is all the same material anyway. However, after rendering it out with one material i decided it looked a bit boring and repetitive, so I created a quick colour Id map for the lower model too in order to apply separated rusted steel materials to each part.

The final out come of all materials applied  too the lower model really enforced by decision to create a colour id map in my opinion. Where as I once had one type of rusted steel covering the whole model, I now have a variation of four which made it look far more interesting.