Fantasy Stylised Shield Zbrush Project

So I decided after uni work has finished to start working on getting better at the areas I knew wasn't as strong as my main skills, This included sculpting and texturing within Zbrush. For this I decided to create a simple Shield asset which would then be textured as a stylised piece to improve and widen my skills in texturing.

Started the project in Max by blocking out the shapes. I then made two different models the base mesh to which would be used for games and a high resolution mesh which would make sculpting easier.

Once the mesh was completed I imported the mesh into Zbrush. As you can See there is only half the wooden planks as I will be mirroring them over.

I then started the sculpting by subdividing the centre piece and adding noise. I used layers in my method as it allowed me to control the amount I wanted after finalising the outcome. It gave me more freedom to play around after. I then used the trim dynamic brush to smooth off the roughness to add more realism to the sculpt.  

I then finally added some dents into the centre piece using the same brush. I moved onto the second main metal piece the outer rim. For this I used the same technique as the centre.

Image shows added dents.

Moved on to the planks now and I used the clay brush to add depth and character, after which I then smoothed with the Trim Dynamic brush. 

I followed this step for all three planks both front and back.

I then added in the grooves using the Orbs crack brush. Which I then controlled the strength with layers again.

 After finishing both the front and back of the planks for the time being. I moved onto the middle round piece by using again the Trim Dynamic brush I flattened areas off. I then used the Orbs crack brush to add small scratches.

I then added in big gash marks to make it look beaten up.

For me to get a real sense on what it would look like I mirrored the planks over in Zbrush to see the final outcome.

I thought I went a little to crazy on the wooden plank grooves so went back and edited them, While also adding in more detail.

However came across an issue with the third plank where the layers would save the information I changed so have decided to just redo the whole process again, Practice makes perfect.

Well I started re-sculpting the small plank on the far right using the same technique as before. 

Added the final major cracks to the small plank to match the others and add detail. 

I moved onto the back of the shield and created some noise on the leather strap and also used the crack brush to add small details. Then followed by creating some worn metal and damage on the metal handle.

I used the same technique for the small metal brackets as I did for the leather strap found at the back.

I then moved back onto the wooden planks to refine and tidy up the back facing plank faces.

I then exported the mesh piece by piece and exploded the low poly mesh to bake using X normals.

Normal Map generated from bake 

AO generated from bake with cavity Map overlayed.

WIP of the Shield 

Major Project Production #Environment Jump

Final asset for to create was most likely the most important one for the scene the jump section. 

This was built out of simple boxes then I applied a texture I created ready for unwrap.

I worked out the characters height but also the height he would be possibly on the bike at this point to work out the height of the roof.

I then began to unwrap the planks and spread them out to they dont look to repeated.

Further down the line of unwrapping 

Complete Unwrapped 

Major Project Production #Environment Wall Ride

The next major asset on the list was the wall ride.

The first stage was building a basic frame to fit the wall ride to, For this I create an object from a cube to represent the wooden planks.

I created one of the wall ride planks and tried duplicating it around a spline this became unsuccessful so decided to do them by hand. This was a bad mistake straight way and instead deleted them and started again by duplicating the mesh around 70 and them combined the meshes to create a single mesh which was then bent around a certain angle.

This is what I finally came up with when I used the bend modifier.

I then decided that to add decals to break up the mesh.

This is just the wall ride itself in cryengine as a quick test 

Major Project Production #Environment Jump Landing

So for the landing of the jump I took this image as my man reference for texturing the log parts of the model.

Its from the racing game Motor Storm which is a PlayStation exclusive.

To begin I started by creating the landing ramp itself this will be textured with a mud and grass like texture.

Once I got the shape of the ramp the way I wanted I created the logs, I Created one then unwrapped the mesh before duplicating the mesh.

I created two texture sheets for the logs just like the reference one for the main log texture the other for the ends.

This is a final mesh textured in view port of 3ds max.

Major Project Production #Environment Tents

Next asset to create was the event tents.

For this I created a thin box and beveled the top face while merging verts. For the support legs they are 8 side cylinder with the bottom and top removed.

Here is the large tent texture sheet Diffuse.

Heres the diffuse for the small Tents

In max screen shot of them textured.

Major Project Production #Environment Barriers

The crowd Barriers was the next asset on the list for me to create.

To start with I created a spline in the right shape. By using the Loft tool I was able to create this shape, But also allowed me to quickly UV the object as the same time.

After this I created a 5 sided cylinder, removing the top and bottom as they would never be seen. I correctly unwrapped the model and then duplicated it 12 times.

I created a very basic Cylinder for the leg stand while also deleting the top and bottom once again. I the mirrored the object to the other side to finally complete one leg. I then duplicated the mesh down the object.

Quick render preview of the mesh in marmoset.

Major Project Production #Environment Banners

For the banners I started with just basic Meshes.

These are the meshes I went with.

I ensured all the banners to fit on one UV sheet. I created two different Diffuse maps to break up the repetitiveness.

This is the second Diffuse 

This is the normal map I created from NDO using an image of fabric.

Quick render test in marmoset before cryenigne

Banners Imported to Cryengine.