WIP: Egyptian Floral Motif Column
pkfrye
🖼️ 38 images Surveyor
I have been learning Blender with the intent of making some Perspectives or orthographic view mapping symbols. I am new to the software so it took me about 2 weeks to get to the point where I could produce the first model. You will notice that it isn't textured yet. The material making process in the next thing I'll be studying.
Comments
There is a useful tut here on how to set up isometric camera angles, which are the angles you will need to render your new objects so that they work with Per3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YycYkyxwHr4
You will need to render the same object from 4 different angles. There is a section of the Tome that describes how to make Perspectives symbols on page 450.
I use Blender myself occasionally, and in fact I have done so for the rocks to go with Marine Dungeon. But I find that most of what I make is almost too real and too sharp without at least a bit of post processing most of the time. Bear in mind that not even the more 'photorealistic' fantasy map styles are really all that photographic. I often mess around adjusting the rendered output from Blender in apps like GIMP or Affinity Photo (a really good and much more affordable alternative to PS) to dumb things down a bit - soften the sharpness, give things a more hand drawn feel.
EDIT: And there I go again - so intent on getting the details right that I forgot to compliment your work. Good stuff! Modelling can be tricky.
LOL, thank you Sue! I was hoping you would comment exactly as you did. Thank you especially for the tutorial link I most certainly need it. Fortunately I have the Tome, GIMP, and Krita. I have been researching the "pallet" that the ancient Egyptians used and from what I have seen they really liked a lot of color on their monuments and in their tombs so that's going to be an interesting challenge for me since I'm red and green color blind! I just slapped some color on it so I could see what it might look like and used a sandstone material on the base. Of course, the angle isn't what it needs to be, the sandstone texture isn't scaled properly and the plastic looking finish on the paint isn't right and the lighting is totally wrong, but it gives me a quick and dirty ? general idea.
Pretty good for a beginner :)
Just wait until you get into procedural texturing!
@Loopysue Yes I have seen the node editor and, like everything else in the app, it looks hideously complicated!
It's not as bad as it looks. It's very easy to learn if you google particular materials, like wood or stone, and watch a few videos.
I'm sure I'll noodle with it for a bit then watch a few tutorials and discover that the appearance is more daunting than the actual use of it. That's how the modeling has worked out for me anyway. ?
The stone I've made isn't great, but I've done a wood texture I'm pretty pleased with, and which I can use to make things like wrecks (eventually). This is the best one I've done - combining things from 3 separate tuts by different people. They all think they have the best way of making wood, but it depends really on the scale and the application. Don't let this frighten you! It's not as complicated as it looks. I just had to squish all the nodes together so you could see what was there and the settings.
Most 'procedural' stone isn't procedural at all, but uses bitmap textures applied procedurally. Stone is a lot more simple than wood, which requires planks and a direction, and random variation of tone.
Still working on a true procedural stone...
Wow Sue, that is awesome. It makes my head hurt to think about what it takes to make it look as if it isn't actually a repeating pattern and thus avoid the "checker board" patterning effect at various scales. I'm also wondering what it will take to achieve an "encrusted" look that a really old wreck has. I watched a program on Discovery+ called "Ghosts of the Deep" that has some very cool footage of ancient wrecks, mostly deep water type stuff. That's the texture I'd like to develop.
Well, here's my first pass at an Egyptian Floral Column. Free for commercial use in maps, but not for resale as stand alone symbols. Four png symbols in the attached zip appropriately named by rotational facing. Thanks to Loopysue for the camera setup info for blender.
Looks good.
Thank you! But really it's quite average and not very inventive. When you watch the Youtube vids you will clearly see how I have hacked them all together, unashamedly copying the plank set up from one, the wood from another, and bits from a third. It's a bit like a cut and paste of other people's work.
Well, I guess the encrustation of a wreck could be done using these new 'Geometry Nodes' all the top notch Blender artists are going crazy about right now. I haven't ventured that far yet. I might use a particle system instead - do it the old fashioned way.
Well, you are light years ahead of me either way! @JimP thanks!
I was still using 2.72 and bitmaps myself only a fortnight ago, so you caught up with my 15 years Blender experience in a few days ;)
You're welcome.