Low Poly Game Shield Part 2

PART 2

LOW POLY GAME SHIELD PART 2

EXPORTING THE SHIELD

1.  Open up your shield in 3Ds max. Select the shield. You will be exporting this out so you can import it in Autodesk Mudbox to add the details. With the shield selected, go to File>Export Selected, for format type, save it as OBJ. file. Set Preset to Mudbox.

OPENING MUDBOX

1.  To produce details on your shield, you will be using a 3D digital sculpting software called Mudbox. This software allows you to create custom displacement maps. Displacement maps are similar to bump maps as it adds height and depth to your models. The difference is displacement maps produce smoother, more accurate, and realistic effects. To open the Mudbox software, in your computer go to Start menu>All Programs>Autodesk>Autodesk Mudbox.

IMPORTING THE SHIELD INSIDE MUDBOX

1.  To import the shield in Mudbox, go to File>Import and locate the shield obj. file you have created.

2.  A message would pop up regarding UV Set. Just click on Keep this Mesh.

SCULPTING DETAILS

1.  Before you begin adding details to the shield, you will need to subdivide the mesh. To do this, hold the shift key and press d. Do this until you get to level 5 of subdivision.

2.  In the lower interface of Mudbox, click on the sculpt tool:

3.  Go to the Properties of the Sculpt tool (right panel). Set the Size of the brush to 1.00 and Strength to 1.70.

4.  Create your own design for your shield and begin sculpting. To push out the clay, just paint around the area. To push in, hold control while painting. Play around with the brush size and strength to add more variety to your shield design.

5.  Save your work by going to File>Save Scene As and give it a file name you will remember.

EXPORTING THE DISPLACEMENT MAP

1.  You will now export the details of the shield so you can use it as a bump map in 3Ds Max. To do this, go to Maps>Extract Texture Map>New Operation.

2.  Give the texture map a name and choose Normal Map to generate:

3.  Set the options as shown, and then click Extract:

APPLYING THE NORMAL MAP

1.  Open 3Ds Max and open your shield model file.

2.  Go to Render Setup>Assign Renderer> and assign Mental Ray as your renderer. Go to the material editor and get the Arch & Design material for your shield and use the Copper template. Assign that material to your shield. Render the shield and all you will see is a plain looking shield.

3.  Under the material properties, go to Special Purposes Maps, plug a Normal Bump in the bump slot. Plug in your normal map within that normal bump lot and make sure to click OVERRIDE when applying your normal map:

4.  Render the shield again and you shall see the details you have made in Mudbox.

5.  Upload your JPEG render to get a grade on this. J