[RELz] Ultraviolet Sword from the Movie

[LHammonds]

Ok. Here are some screenshots of the sword in-game. I am zipping the files and sending them to xxXEvandarXxx to apply the actual textures. Once done, they can be sent back to me and then the mod can be finalized and uploaded.

 

EDIT: Note that the "Hammonds" text on the sword is not in the texture at all. It only exists in the normal map which handles light reflections that help give the model added depth where there is none. One possible option is to add the symbols to the normal map only to give them an engraved look. Or add the symbols to the texture with a smooth surface in the normal map to make it look painted on...or a combination of both to give an engraved and painted look. From the web images, it looks like a VERY small etching with the pits filled in with a black paint which means if we want to achieve that look, we need to do the 3rd option I listed above. Totally up to xxXEvandarXxx in how it is implemented though. ;)

 

LHammonds

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[UK47]

 

 

 

 

 

 

The normalmap is great, could you write a tutorial about it ?

 

 

the sword looks too big in game :unsure:

[LHammonds]

The normalmap is great, could you write a tutorial about it ?

There are already MANY tutorial written about the creation of normal maps. A single tutorial will not cover everything for all situations...you just have to know many different techniques and tools and learn when is best for each situation.

 

http://cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/index.php/Normal_Maps

http://www.crazybump.com/

http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:Manu...and_Normal_Maps

http://wiki.blender.org/index.php/Doc:Manual/Render/Bake

http://www.astahost.com/info.php/Normal-Ma...der_t19493.html

http://cuttingedgetech.wordpress.com/2009/...er-normal-maps/

http://cuttingedgetech.wordpress.com/2009/...in-blender-pt2/

http://toontutorials.toonlifeonline.com/vi...-map-baking-tut

 

the sword looks too big in game :unsure:

Re-sizing is extremely easy to fix. However, I made the size of this weapon the same size as a longsword. Anyone else agree that it needs to be smaller in-game? If so, by how much? The overall length of the sword in real-life is 41.5" and the blade by itself is 29.5"....if I can find the article that mentions the measurements of Blender units to inches in Oblivion, I can size it to be exact.

 

Assuming this character is 6 feet tall in-game, his arms should be 3 feet long which is 36 inches. So the sword length should be 1/2 foot longer than his arm.

 

EDIT #1: According to this tutorial, there is a 10 to 1 ratio between Blender Units and Oblivion's Game Units. So 10 Blender Units = 1 Game Unit. Now I just gotta figure out what a "Game Unit" translates to.

 

EDIT #2: According to this article, 1 foot = 21.3 Game Units (1 inch = 1.775 GU) . That means a 41.5" sword should be 73.7 Game Units (1.775 x 41.5) which is 737 Blender Units.

 

EDIT #3: The model shown in the screenshots is about 800 BUs which is about 3.5 inches too long. I wasn't off by much but it will be re-sized. ;)

 

LHammonds

[UK47]

The normalmap is great, could you write a tutorial about it ?

There are already MANY tutorial written about the creation of normal maps. A single tutorial will not cover everything for all situations...you just have to know many different techniques and tools and learn when is best for each situation.

Yes I know, but some time ago I did a dagger (Sam dagger from LOTR) , the normalmap was "broken" so I sent a PM to you, you did something with the gimp X thing, the problem was fixed + the new normalmap was awesome, so you said that you will maybe write a tutorial about the X gimp thing.

 

am I wrong :unsure: ?

[LHammonds]

Yes I know, but some time ago I did a dagger (Sam dagger from LOTR) , the normalmap was "broken" so I sent a PM to you, you did something with the gimp X thing, the problem was fixed + the new normalmap was awesome, so you said that you will maybe write a tutorial about the X gimp thing.

 

am I wrong :unsure: ?

I said that I "might" create such a tutorial. Since there are other tutorials that already cover this, I don't think it would be a good location for me to spend my time.

 

This tutorial, which was in the 1st link above, goes over the process of creating a normal map using GIMP. The very bottom explains the usage of the X/Y Invert buttons which is what I did for your normal map.

 

At the time you sent that dagger to me, I had no machine that had Oblivion or anything other than GIMP so I am positive that GIMP will create the quality of normal maps you are looking for since I did not have access to CrazyBump or PhotoShop at the time. That tutorial even covers how to update the alpha channel which is necessary to keep the object from "shining" too much...similar to the shine factor on my example images above (e.g. the handle)

 

EDIT: Assuming the unit conversions were accurate in the prior articles, the sword now matches the movie sword in length.

 

New Screenshots:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDIT #2: DoH!!! I forgot to add this link to my 2nd paragraph above...sorry UK47.

 

EDIT #3: While waiting on xxXEvandarXxx for the texture work, I am creating another variant that will be a larger two-handed version just for fun.

 

LHammonds

[UK47]

Yes I know, but some time ago I did a dagger (Sam dagger from LOTR) , the normalmap was "broken" so I sent a PM to you, you did something with the gimp X thing, the problem was fixed + the new normalmap was awesome, so you said that you will maybe write a tutorial about the X gimp thing.

 

am I wrong :unsure: ?

I said that I "might" create such a tutorial. Since there are other tutorials that already cover this, I don't think it would be a good location for me to spend my time.

 

This tutorial, which was in the 1st link above, goes over the process of creating a normal map using GIMP. The very bottom explains the usage of the X/Y Invert buttons which is what I did for your normal map.

 

At the time you sent that dagger to me, I had no machine that had Oblivion or anything other than GIMP so I am positive that GIMP will create the quality of normal maps you are looking for since I did not have access to CrazyBump or PhotoShop at the time. That tutorial even covers how to update the alpha channel which is necessary to keep the object from "shining" too much...similar to the shine factor on my example images above (e.g. the handle)

 

LHammonds

OK thank

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LHammonds

Now it's really cool :thumbsup:

[Siojo]

Wow, I recently had an urge to watch Ultraviolet a few days and ago and thought; "That sword is awesome, I wonder if there is anything like it for Oblivion". Now you guys are making it! I can't wait for this!

[LHammonds]

As a movie, Ultraviolet was not received very well but I enjoyed watching it. You really cannot enjoy much in the SciFi arena if you try to analyze and pick it apart. ;) I've probably seen it 3 times now. When I saw this request, I thought somebody had already made the sword but when I looked around, I could not find it and it wasn't in my archives.

 

LHammonds

[LHammonds]

xxXEvandarXxx said it would only take a couple of days and it seems something else has come up to delay his efforts. Completely understandable by me for sure! So, rather than put any kind of pressure on him to finish his work, I have created a somewhat passable texture but my machine is currently unable to fine-tune alpha channels so the reflections are WAY off. I also cheated on the symbols and ripped them from the screenshots and piecemeal'd sections together to make it long enough to fit the proportional section sizes. Expect some low-res stuff here...the same thing I warned about to UK47 earlier. ;)

 

I will go ahead and release this as a BETA version here and when xxXEvandarXxx finishes his textures, I will update the mod and re-release it as version 1.0.

 

Here is a quick glimpse:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EDIT: Changing the title of this topic to "[RELz]" and moving from the Requests section to the Mod Talk section.

[BlaCkBlitZ]

Looks great, especially with visual enhancements.

The enchanted glow on weapons + this weapon = awesome.