Addon Developer Workshop

[vynom 1]

I think these pics are all i need to finish it, thanks. :)

[Alwarren 2767]

I'm using Blender to do everything then using leopotams blender/O2 plugin to go to O2. The mesh I export tends to use edge splits on smooth faces rather than flat faces, and vertex normals are a liittle wierd on import but I usualy do a quick cut paste to refresh.

Just to reiterate on this, it's the edge split that does the magic. When I use an edge split modifier, the result looks much better, and the issues are gone :)

[3dartist 69]

First post ended in the wrong thread where i could get no feedback,sorry.

Have you ever come into the situation that your jet parked on airfield has been stolen or destroyed by a bomber.

Here is my solution!> Nuke Bunker, well strong against any thread :)

!!Feedback is welcome!! :)

[max power 21]

The Upcoming Addons thread has a discussion thread where people have given you feedback already.

To use this thread you should probably reread the first post. I only see finished assets here with no objective. For instance: What are your concerns?

Edited April 22, 2012 by Max Power

[3dartist 69]

Add more detail? Any signs, Any things that i don`t see and maybe some other people will be able to see them."The Upcoming Addons thread has a discussion thread where people have given you feedback already" Got it! The forum has completely changed from last time i`ve been here.

[max power 21]

The exterior looks good. It looks like the interior is corrogated metal but the lobes look quite huge. This is how your reference is, yes? Right now it looks like the interior is out of scale with the exterior, so maybe some more fine detail, or reduce some of the large detail inside that you can see from outside on the wall.

[b00ce 160]

Finished the front landing gear

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u125/booce/ArmA%20II/Aliens/UD-4L/buldozer2012-04-2413-05-22-46.png

http://i167.photobucket.com/albums/u125/booce/ArmA%20II/Aliens/UD-4L/buldozer2012-04-2413-05-28-93.png

I still need to add some minor details and then rear landing gear. That's kinda important.

I started work on the ramp, so far I'm pretty happy with it.

Is there anything I've forgotten or need to fix model wise?

[max power 21]

I still need to add some minor details and then rear landing gear. That's kinda important.

Ah yes, the old Queen Alien stowage bay.

To me, the model looks nice and clean. There aren't any vertex shading issues that I can see. It's detailed and seems in proportion. I say stay on course. With more detailed wireframe shots from different angles, maybe something worth looking at would pop up...

[scubaman3D 0]

Here's something for any Modonauts out there.

This is the first model I've made in Modo 601 and I have an entirely new work flow. 601 added a "Rounded Edge Width" option to the material shader tree items. This allows you to create a faux 'soft edge' effect on edges which are otherwise very sharp. The effect is quite similar to turning smoothing on after adding your 'safety edges' in modo or max...but requires no additional geometry to be added.

Here's a pic of it:

The pictured model is made of some components with smoothing on, with all the additional geometry required to make it look right, while other parts are simple low poly objects with the rounded edge width set to 1.1mm. Can you spot the difference? :)

This is a pretty big deal...the time saving potential is huge with this feature!

Edited April 28, 2012 by scubaman3D

[b00ce 160]

Hi again, been working on this for the past few days (With the help of /k/ for guidance and some specular maps), getting to the point where I need to work on detail LoDs. What's the best way (In O2) for doing them without having to re-UV map everything?

[max power 21]

That seems like it's not going to be very pleasant (in 02)...

It would also help if we could see the topology of the thing. For downmodelling, these pics of the thing in some arma scene are of little consequence.

One thing to remember is that after a certain distance, you won't be able to see any texture distortion and / or the mipmap will be so small that you won't notice much distortion anyways.

I would work on your densest areas first. You can do this by edge loops, either merging two together (two vertices at a time) (shift+D) or removing (vertex\remove) them (one whole edgle loop) at a time. Often you'll remove every second edgeloop. Focus on the small detail stuff first rather than the ones responsible for the silhouette. You can try positioning the camera at different distances and seeing what you can see and what you can't.

For the special LODs you will likely have to create new (simple) models.

In the past, I have used this as a loose guide to figure out what is visible at a certain distance. It didnt' seem to steer me wrong.

http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Operation_Flashpoint:_Resolution_LOD_Samples

Edited May 16, 2012 by Max Power

[b00ce 160]

That seems like it's not going to be very pleasant...

It would also help if we could see the topology of the thing. For downmodelling, these pics of the thing in some arma scene are of little consequence.

One thing to remember is that after a certain distance, you won't be able to see any texture distortion and / or the mipmap will be so small that you won't notice much distortion anyways.

I would work on your densest areas first. You can do this by edge loops, either merging two together (two vertices at a time) (shift+D) or removing (vertex\remove) them (one whole edgle loop) at a time. Often you'll remove every second edgeloop. Focus on the small detail stuff first rather than the ones responsible for the silhouette. You can try positioning the camera at different distances and seeing what you can see and what you can't.

For the special LODs you will likely have to create new (simple) models.

In the past, I have used this as a loose guide to figure out what is visible at a certain distance. It didnt' seem to steer me wrong.

http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Operation_Flashpoint:_Resolution_LOD_Samples

Interesting, thanks for the info. I'll get to work on it now.

[STALKERGB 6]

So... I have been working some more on a female rifleman for an addon I'm working on at the moment, which hasn't proved too difficult for the most part:

But what I have wanted to do is create a version without a helmet on. I wonder if I'm digging myself a bigger hole but I've found some dodgy alpha issues with the hair (in game) as per the image below:

Larger if you need it

So far I haven't found any solution that provides a better result, I did try changing the texture from _ca to _co which sort of fixed the issue at the cost of making the ends of the hairs much more pixelated. I kinda have a feeling this is just a limitation that I'm not gonna find a solution to but any thoughts/opinions would be much appreciated. I also tried just completely removing any alpha channel which solved the problem while obviously removing that softer finish to the shape of the hair.

Edited May 17, 2012 by STALKERGB

[max power 21]

It would appear that you're the victim of alpha texture filtration, and maybe there's an alpha sorting problem. I don't think the 1 bit alpha used with _co textures in the answer. Without doing a lot of hair in the past myself, perhaps you could try:

• crushing the histogram of your alpha layer with a levels adjustment to minimize the grey tones
  
• make sure the background of your hair texture is hair coloured
  
• Select the hair planes in O2 and go to faces\move top.
  

edit: It actually looks like this alpha problem has more to do with the headset... It's hard to read if that's a strap or just some coincidental alpha disturbance. Is it a proxy? Try moving it to the bottom of the alpha stack and see what happens.

Edited May 17, 2012 by Max Power

[STALKERGB 6]

Ah that's an excellent couple of suggestions Max, I'll have a look at trying some of those! To be honest, there will be a point where I could live with a small amount of alpha texture filtration (depending on where and how big) so hopefully your suggestions will help get me to at least that point.

Thanks for the help! :)

edit: It actually looks like this alpha problem has more to do with the headset... It's hard to read if that's a strap or just some coincidental alpha disturbance. Is it a proxy? Try moving it to the bottom of the alpha stack and see what happens.

At the moment, the headset, and hair/head are still part of the infantry model, the headset straps do pass under some parts of the hair (as you can sort of see on the picture from buldozer). I might remove the headset and see what happens with regards to the alpha issues

Edited May 17, 2012 by STALKERGB

[nzdfcrash 33]

Ammobox myself and bobman are working on together. I think it looks alright except for perhaps some extra strengthening of the RVMATs may be needed? Anyone have any suggestions as to what can be done to improve?

http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t41/h290master/ArmA2OA2012-05-2721-54-42-66.jpg (148 kB)

Edited May 28, 2012 by NZDF CRASH

[CameronMcDonald 146]

Hah, random splotches of spraypaint, perhaps a faded Army echelon sticker, and faded black lettering from previous users, such as "SCOUT", "AMMO", "HQ", etc spring to mind.

I think it looks pretty good, however.

[ck-claw 1]

Looks very good Crash, Doofy was working on some but,something happened and he asked for his thread to be closed???

[Jako 10]

I am currently working on a Namer APC model but I'm not good enough if someone wants to help me contact me I got some good blueprints.

http://www.bilder-upload.eu/show.php?file=0f2858-1340213946.jpg

http://www.bilder-upload.eu/show.php?file=f31e76-1340214008.jpg

PS: It's my first 3D model ;)

Edited June 20, 2012 by Jako

[jefferspang 2]

Crye Precision Jumpable Plate Carrier [JPC] WIP (for Fox09)

U-94 PTT

AN/PRC 148 MBITR

A (primitive) model of PMAG to be redone...

Combat Application Tourniquet

etc..

I'd just like anyone to suggest any accessories that could be added in the same time frame (so 2011 onwards SOF) but this isn't a gear oriented workshop per say, I would appreciate any constructive criticism anyone has to offer. :)

-JP

[SuicideCommando 333]

JP, that is exceptional work. I think it looks superb. Can't wait to see it in-game.

[Guest]

jeffer can you post wires and tri count? would help a lot for critique

[cescollino 10]

JLTV by lockheed martin

http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu285/salam20/arma2/vs.jpg

http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu285/salam20/arma2/van.jpg

Duty called We answered

[b00ce 160]

Personally, I prefer the General Dynamics entry, from an aesthetics stand point. Good work though. Any chance of making a "realistic" render? Also, what's the poly count on it so far?

[cescollino 10]

http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu285/salam20/jltv2.jpg

http://i656.photobucket.com/albums/uu285/salam20/jltv1.jpg

the polycount (for now) for the basic version is 4.462 and 7.319 for the version with more stuff