quick question

[hero4682]

hi guys,.. quick question?

 

i'll make a model of somthing like a sword, and in the end i dont like it.. its too crude..

so, one thing ive been doing is importing other custom models to see how that model maker did theres.. and ive notice something that would make me feel better if i knew how to do it.

 

ive attached a picture with two swords, the first sword is very plain (bunch of squrares and straight lines).. the second sword is filled with triangles...

im not sure if the triangles are better, but it seems like every model maker is using this technique,..

 

how do u do that? is there an easy way to do it, or is every modeler individually connecting 2 vertaces to make each of those triangles?

[ub3rman123]

I made a video on how to make complex and simple blades with my method.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiNSmd692xM

 

I didn't cover the more complex multi-spine methods, but you should be able to tell with it.

[baduk]

Hi!

 

The reason your imported models are made of triangles are they are triangulated on export by nifscripts for ingame use.

It is preferable to have a mesh of quads when modeling it because you can use the editing tools to manipulate it much more effectively.

You can use axes to guide the direction you are moving vertices, global ones are default but you can use local and normal axes.

For example when you grab or scale verts, u can hit x one time to lock movement to global x axis, hit x twice to lock it to local or normal axis.

 

There is a lot of different ways to model a sword. I never made a sword, just been doing outfits and stuff, but I will consider these methods.

You can start from a plane that is defining the outermost boundary of the entire blade.

You could start small and extrude your way to the size of the blade.

You can use a nurbs curve to define the curvature of the blade, duplicating and flipping it for a symmetrical blade.

Or positioning the curve against another curve or straight line for assymetrical. Then you create faces between the 2.

After this you can make subdivisions along the mesh and manipulate it before mirroring the underside.

Blender is a magical forge.

 

I also recommend highly some mesh tools; 3d cursor snapping, proportional editing, lattice modifier, and geom tool.

http://glender.hybird.org/ <- link for geom tool, uv tool, and pattern selection.

I never used the mesh copy paste one tho, seems i can just import datablocks from other blend file if i want.

This is really all i have been needing at my basic level.

 

Here is a thread on mesh topology for further studying.

The focus is on high poly modeling, organic modeling, models that undergo deformation.

It is not the case for a sword but It is an enlightening thread.

http://blenderartists.org/forum/showthread.php?t=93651&page=1

[LHammonds]

As baduk has said, the triangles are not better, it is actually worse when it comes to modeling design.

 

The export to NIF process does convert all quads to tris, but if the mesh was well-formed, you should be able to "undo" the triangulation after you import the mesh. Go into edit mode (TAB), select all verts (A) and press ALT+J to convert triangles to quads. If (and that is a big IF) this works cleanly, you have transformed the model back into its original form. However, if there were "bad" spots before it was triangulated, the conversion back to quads might not go so well. The easiest way to see this quickly is to split your view panel so you have the 3D view on one side and the UV Image Editor on the other. When you edit the mesh and select all verts, you will see the UV Map in the UV Image Editor...it should look "normal" such as not crazy lines running wildly all over the place. But after you use ALT+J, take a look at the UVs again and see if they remained the same to ensure the conversion went well. If something did not work correctly, the UV will "explode" at the troublesome areas and typically makes the texture face at that location looked messed up because it is spanning the entire texture instead of where it was supposed to be.

 

But enough about that.

 

The image you showed on the left is VERY close to the image on the right. From this angle, you mainly just need to select the top verts and merge them together to get the "tip" of the blade. The 2 lower inside horizontal lines do not seem like they are contributing to the shape of the mesh so I would edge loop delete those.

 

For a simple blade like that, ub3rman123's process is a bit tedious, produced triangles instead of quads (easily corrected when creating the faces though) and somewhat imprecise (sorry man...but there's a much easier way for the 1st blade).

 

When creating a simple sword, I start with the basic cube. I then immediately scale it down on the Z axis to flatten it out a bit to get the thickness of the blade. I then extrude one edge along the X axis which will eventually become my blade's edge. With these verts selected, I scale them down on the Z axis which makes them almost touch each other and looks like the sharp edge of the blade. I then select the top row of verts and extrude along the Y axis to obtain the length of the sword...and then extrude 1, 2 or 3 more times to create the tip and successively scale along the X axis to make the tip taper off how I like. But for the VERY tip, I do not merge the end points just yet...I keep them until the bitter end. Why? Because I can still add loop edges wherever I want as long as the verts are not merged. Once I am happy with the overall design and poly-count, I will then merge the verts at the center to make a true "point / edge" where they used to be just very close during the design phase. I also make use of the mirror modifier to create the other half of the blade which make it uniform (I also make sure "do clipping" is enabled on the modifier). To get a "blood-letting" groove along the middle, simply select the middle verts and scale them along the Z axis to move them closer together..thus making the groove. If necessary, you can add loops to control the width of the groove (but not if you merged the tip of that blade earlier...see what I mean?)

 

EDIT #1: I figured the above text wasn't good enough to explain the process so I made a quick video and uploading it to YouTube right now. There is no voiceover and no text (other than the above) explaining what is going on. I even fell asleep while editing the video and it turns out the "Credits" at the end got blanked out. hehehe. I will go ahead and include the video link but it will take a while for it to finish uploading and I am going to bed and just hope everything finishes OK.

 

- Be sure to crank up the settings to 1080p HD and full screen to get a clear view of the movie clip.

 

EDIT #2: Apparently, YouTube's recommended size of 1920x1080 isn't anywhere as clear as the

. Guess I will have to re-make this video in the future as 720p.

 

LHammonds

[hero4682]

well thanks u guys so much, i appreciate the help and advice,...

 

hopefully one day, i can upload a creation of mine and have u guys check it out.... thanks again

[ub3rman123]

Yeah, I hadn't thought of extruding the entire thing until the video was done filming. I might some day redo that video so it's got more efficient methods to it.

 

The best method really for making such a simple blade would probably be to make the lateral outline of it (As though it's pointing straight at you) and extruding that, then merging together the tip for a neat blade.

[Nadimos]

Thanks, for the video. :thumbsup:

[LHammonds]

Yeah, I hadn't thought of extruding the entire thing until the video was done filming. I might some day redo that video so it's got more efficient methods to it.

The video the way you have it is perfect for showing how to outline an odd-shaped object like the 2nd sword you showed.

 

LHammonds