Weapon
Tutorial 1 - Modelling a realistic weapon
In
this tutorial I will show, how to create a 3D model of a real gun, that can be
imported
in QuakeIII later on.
We
will use the following applications in this tutorial:
3D
Studio Max 3.0
(Sorry, no download available)
Preparations
Create
a directory with following structure:
/models/weapons2/shotgun
You
must always save your .max files in this directory, this is nessecary for
exporting
your model and the texture successful into a .md3 file.
In
order to create our model as realistic as possible, we first look at some photos
of the
weapon's original, and try to get an idea how these shapes can be modelled best.
Of course
we can't copy all details, because we shouldn't use more than 500 polygons. Most
of the
details will be painted on the skin later on.
2. The basic shape
First
we create the basic shape, by creating
two boxes with Create -> Standart Primitives -> Box.
We don't worry much about the proportions, fine-tuning is coming later. After
that we create
cylinder, with slice from 0° to 180°, which will be moved near
the handle. By using the
align tool, we are able to arrange the parts perfectly.
IMPORTANT: While you are creating any objects, don't use more height-,
width-, or
length-secments than needed. This is for keeping low the amount of polygons.
3.
The details
Now
we create another box for the mag, and a cylinder that will be used as the
weapon's
barrel. Use cylinders with 6 - 8 sides, the smooth and round effect will be done
by the skin
and we need less polygons. A bigger, flater cylinder will be the connection
between the
barrel and the corpus. Another cylinder will be used for the button at the top
of the weapon.
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In
the next step we create the little box on top of the weapon's backside. To do
this, click on Create -> Shapes ->Splines -> Line. Now you have to paint a
trapez. Now click on Modify -> Extrude and enter a value for the amount.
Now we create one of the front boxes with another extruded spline. Next, we clone this object and align both on the weapon. The only things that are still missing now are the trigger and the security arch. How this works should be clear now.
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4. The big handle
With a new spline in L-shape we create the
handle's connection to the weapon. Another
spline gives us the base of the handle. Again we clone this object, and align
all three new
objects.
Now we create a thin, long cylinder for the first
part of the handle. After that we need a torus
for the rounded corner. Click on Create -> Extended Primitives -> Torus.
The small radius and
the number of sides must be the same as the just created cylinder's ones. Use a
90°
slice.
Another cylinder and another torus, and we've got
half of the handle. You have to click on
Group now and put all handle objects together. Make a clone and mirror
the clone. Now we've
got the whole handle, and we are allowed to release the clone.
5. Putting the objects together
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Select one of the objects, and click on Modify -> Edit Mesh and choose Attach. Now you have to attach all objects to the selected one, and you will receice one big object containing all parts. |
6. Adjust the proportions
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Click on Rendering -> Environment and load a picture of the weapon's original as background. If you now render the scene (the rendered picture must have the same size like the background picture), you can compare your model's proportions with those of the original. |
Go back in the Edit Mesh menu and choose Subobject
Vertex.
Move the model's vertices until model and original have the same size and
proportions.
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7. Delete all useless faces
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After we have the correct shape, we delete all double faces, we received by attaching the objects. Double faces are the faces where two or more objects are toching each other. e.g. between the barrel and the connection part. To get rid of these faces, you have to click on Edit Mesh once again. This time you have to choose Subobject Polygon. Select and delete the backface of the barrel, which is touching the connection part. Repeat this step until there are no double faces left |
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If you think you have deleted all double faces, click on Modify -> More -> STL-Check and check your model. If you really deleted all double faces yu won't get any errors, except open edges errors. This is ok, we will fix the open edges in the next step. |
8. Close the open edges
Fixing this step can be a nightmare and takes
lots of time. In order to close the edges, you
must connect all parts of the weapon and melt the common vertices together
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First we take a look on how the barrel is mounted on the weapon. Delete the front face of the weapon's corpus, and you can look inside the weapon. We create a spline like the shown one to fix this hole. |
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Move this spline in the place of the formerly deleted face.
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Click on Edit
Mesh now, and attach the spline to the weapon's model.
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Select the Subobject
Vertix and move the vertices of the spline to the ones of the model.
Now select all vertices and press melt.
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9. STL-Check and planing the faces
Select the model, click on Modify -> More
-> STL-Check and choose the option all. If you still
have any errors, you forgot something. Find the error, and fix it.
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If your models
doesn't contain any errors, click on Edit Mesh -> Faces and
choose Autom. planing. This will fix eventuell exisiting kinks in
the faces.
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Now we have created a realistic model, but we
still need to get mappingkoordinates on the
model and import it into Quake. Our next tutorial will concern on this topic,
you can find it at http://www.planetquake.com/caphold/tutorials.html.
If you have any questions, comments or anything
else considering this tutorial, don't e-mail me.
I won't answer any mails. Please post in our forum, because others can read this
stuff there too. http://www.planetquake.com/caphold/forum.html
This files can be used, copied and edited for
private use only. Redistribution, only with our permission.
(c) 2000 - Capture 'n Hold Team
Downloaded from: http://www.planetquake.com/caphold
Written by: Pearl Silva
