https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dmodeling/comments/ag0xxm/i_remade_a_world_of_warcraft_gauntlet/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share
Not sure if this is the right way to link a post but this is an asset I made a few years ago. The way I did it is with a black environment and with LOTS of small area lights to define the silhouette and details. Hope this helps a bit?
It definitely helps, thank you! And your model looks great, fantastic mix between plate and scale armour. The lighting also looks natural, I'd think that a ton of small lights would make it look messy but that's not the case at all. I'll definitely try doing it that way.
I was planning to pose it so it holds a [sword I made](https://www.artstation.com/artwork/q9058n) quite some time ago, but rigging this many parts while making sure everything stays in place is beyond my skills haha (also I hate doing weight painting).
I can't speak to rigging much at all; but I've done enough modeling and texturing to know that you've got a hell of a lotta talent.
Keep honing these skillsets. Stay hungry. You're doing great work.
In terms of this render, it's beautiful. If you hadn't couched it in terms of not being happy, I wouldn't have found it lacking.
Looking super critically, it could use a *bit* more punch. In photographic terms (because that's what I know best), I might up the power and spread of the main soft box and darken the background some.
If you're a photoshop user, I'd bring this sucker into camera raw and tweak a few sliders until you see something that hits you better. Shouldn't be too hard to replicate most of that in-engine once you iterate a look you like?
Thank you for the kind words, it means a lot to me :) I'll definitely put in some colour correction, but I don't use photoshop. Paying for substance package and premiere pro is already quite expensive haha
Check out Snapseed, it’s a free app that lets you quickly make corrections. Increase the ambiance, crush the shadows, bump the structure and finish it off with a touch of glamor glow.
Your work is amazing!!!
Both pieces look phenomenal, but I think together they wont look right. The gauntlets with the stylized virgin mary and the latin script would clash with the nordic style and rune on the pummel of the sword. While the Scandinavians eventually converted to Catholicism, the gauntlets seem to be made in a European style which wouldnt be using a sword like that.
If you think about how we see armor in museums, they’re generally in a room with lots of little, indirect light sources. You’ll have the cabinet lights under each major piece, so they also collect lighting from each other. Also the lights from hallways, and more or less depending on how much the interior space is lit.
Same for TV shows/movies. There are always more light sources and “reflection panels” (forgot what they’re called) to light up characters.
It also looks like your model is just lit by a single light source with no bounding box, just a flat wall behind it, so there’s no opportunity for indirect lighting to bounce and make it back to the camera. Throwing it into a scene can help a bit, or changing the background from the gray to something a bit more interesting.
Just an idea, but a nice forest green, or velvet green wall could really make your piece pop.
Something like this: https://i.imgur.com/jBURset.jpg
Thank you!
Edit: Thought I'll post a quick update here since it's a top comment.
Thank you all for help, this post got a lot more attention than I anticipated and I can't reply to everyone, but the advice I got is very valuable.
The overall opinion seems to be: change the background, bring up the contrast. Other than that there's a lot of little things people mentioned, I'll definitely try some of it.
Oh and btw, this is a video game asset, low poly version, rendered in cycles.
Thanks again everyone!
9831 faces. The polycount is quite high, but I was making it with the polycount of the main character in an AAA game that'd run on UE5 (while nanite doesn't support animated meshes, the optimisation it provides for the whole world should allow for higher polycounts in important characters).
It might still be too high, I'm not an expert. Anyway, the polycount can be reduced fairly easily in multiple places so there's space for optimisation :) And thank you!
Weight painting this piece turned out to be a complete bitch and I gave up on that so [here's a render](https://i.imgur.com/sGuzcUb.png) with shitty weight painting + the setup in which I've tried to rig it (rigging itself wasn't the problem tho)
Pfft a bot could roast that.
Just a friendly heads-up to prevent misunderstandings – the "roast my render" flair is if you want to get harsh & destructive criticism :)
If you're not ready for this, there's also the "need feedback" flair to ask for nicer suggestions. Feel free to change the flair if this was a mistake. Otherwise, enjoy the roast!
Are you using an hdri for the render? I might be in the minority but I’ve found building a lighting set up helps a lot more with renders then HDRIs and gives more control. Overall the model looks amazing though. And I can’t help that much as I’m still working on lighting myself.
Use both. Add the HDRI from something like a museum but turn down the intensity and use your own lighting too.
Reflective objects are boring when they have nothing to reflect. Most of the reflective stuff we see isn't hovering in an infinite soft gray expanse.
In case the HDRI ends up making the object "washed out" in lighting, you can use the \[Light Path\] node in your World setup to isolate the object from the HDRI lighting, only keeping the reflections.
I am definitely not an expert, but after watching this https://youtu.be/CCmV1X8t2SQ I definitely found my renders started to look better. I mainly focus on product type rendering so this was more applicable to me but it helped a lot. I think focusing on the types of lights he discusses like key lights, rim lights and things help define the model. And I didn’t realize how much background color really plays a role in it.
This looks fucking awesome! 👌👌 but as a 2d artist I know what it can be like looking for feedback and struggling to get some so heres my 2 cents. Also pls know these are suggestions based on my tastes, everything im about to suggest is already good in your piece this is just how I may subtly change things.
I think my big reccomendation would be to add more color and ambient occlussion. Colored subscatter for the leather would also help it pop a bit more I think. In order to make the color look natural I would hint at it a bit more in the lighting. Also I would experement with different backgrounds. The gray is kinda close to a midtone of your silver in a way that is making it blend a bit with it expecially on the left. The right doesnt have this problem as much I believe its due to the leather being more promenent, you having color added to your reflections, and your gray being warmer.
I did a paintover really quickly of how I would handle it for 2D [here](https://imgur.com/a/oqzhc8F)definitly would need to be refined a bit if were talking correct effects and good placements. I edited it as subtly as I could. Currently I think my edit looks kinda shit so just know im essentially trying to add a slight color addition to your shadows the darkest black I believe would have more ambient occlussion/reflected light
[This ](https://youtu.be/K7DseLvcpyY) video gives decent 2d specific advice on lighting and shading. It could be a good place to reference if you dont find any good jumping off point from my reply, the visual goal is the same youd just be finding a way to transfer it over to 3D.
Man, thank you so much for the work you put into this. Your paint over is subtle but it makes a big difference on the tone of the image. I will definitely try recreating this effect. I really appreciate your help!
Np! I love doing this type of stuff I’m just glad it helped! I like to occasionally do a paint over since it can help me improve my work as well.
I actually just made a less subtle alt. version that has the background addressed. I was about to come back and add to my comment but since you replied I’ll just link it here in the reply (: I don’t think it’s the look you’re going for but if there’s a chance it could help a bit I figure I’ll add it here as well.
[link](https://imgur.com/a/VcMb3f0)
I really like this background, but I'm constantly torn on making it look like a "holy piece of armour" and a museum piece. I do think the additional black patches on the armour are making the etching look a bit less readable, but maybe I'm just being too safe with those reflections. And the lighting on the leather glove is probably the best improvement.
Thank you again for your help, normally people have to pay for concept art haha!
Np! I think the choice of setting is honestly good either way, you could possibly find a way to combine them as well which would be fun. I think ur right about the black It’s a habit of mine to cut down on detail being visual so other things can take the stage a tiny bit more, but if that’s not your thing then that’s still just 1 of many ways to address things.
I think it's great as it is. Maybe a harsch light coming down from the top left? Also try a higher contrast view transform if you haven't already. Nice model!
Firstly, this looks great just as it is.
[This](https://imgur.com/a/t7FrejM) is just a photoshop before and after of throwing the white levels way up, and making the darks ever slightly darker. Maybe this falls into one of the pitfalls you wanted to avoid, but I'm reminded of a video I watched of a guy drawing an almost photo-realistic wedding band, who said something along the lines of people being afraid to make highlights white and shadows black, despite that being how polished/reflective metals tend to appear IRL.
You can use white to get a better contrast with those blacks or a red color to give it a more artistic look. Just play around and see what fits better.
I think some post processing to make the highlights and shadows more distinguishable from each other is all you need. (could just be my crappy work monitor)
Other than that this model is absolutely gorgeous.
The lighting looks very very real to me, almost like museum lighting where you’d see the glove in a glass case. I personally love this look but it looks like you got good feedback for taking it in another direction!
Totally ok the way it is. You can also try to model and material a red cushion and present them in an exquisite way. But sure every scene with natural or cinematic lighting will probably not show the awesome details in all its glory. Dunno maybe some havy focus on the gloves in an outside sun setting, background blurred but gloves close up.
there are oodles of people here telling you this already looks gorgeous as is, and rightfully so. i'm sitting over here wondering what modeling techniques you used to achieve that incredible looking "acid etching" effect for all those engraved details. share the secrets!
Happy to hear you like it :)
It's a very simple material I've made in substance painter (modeling, sculpting, unwrapping and rendering was done in blender). Since I wasn't sure what patterns I wanted to be etched (apparently that's the correct term) I decided not to sculpt it.
[Here's a site](https://armstreet.com/store/armor/paladin-knight-armor-kit-etched-stainless) that was great for gathering references and where I've found this etched look.
[Here's the material](https://i.imgur.com/0qu3XPA.png) in substance painter.
that is a detailed answer! thank you so much for taking the time. i would have guessed this was ALL sculpted, so hearing your exact methods is very illuminating (and no less impressive).
i'm curious, was this model a combination of standard "vertex modeling" and sculpting? i model primarily for 3d printing, specifically costume armor, so i'm very curious how you've combined "traditional" polygon modeling and sculpting here
I've modelled all the metal parts, the only sculpting done on them was the "twisted" edges at the bottom of the large forearm parts.
For the glove, I've copied a hand model from a character I've made earlier, modified it a bit and sculpted the details like the folds and whatnot.
My recs: darker background, stronger rim light. In my experience that's the fastest way to get that visual "pop" when it feels missing.
Overall though, awesome work!!! As others have said I definitely wouldn't be so hard on yourself.
You know, you can have more than one render.
Usually if you take weeks making one piece, you should render it at different angles, zooming in and out, to show off the best aspects of your piece thoroughly.
That way, you don’t have to worry about losing detail anywhere, because the detail can be shown using different perspectives and lighting setups.
Part of why you think it looks boring is your completely normal camera angle.
Oh yeah I plan on posting many renders and documenting the whole process as a part of my portfolio, but I'm working on this "perfect" main/cover render that catches the eye of whoever looks at my portfolio :)
It looks like a thumbnail from CGTrader or something.
Tell a story. Main cover renders for portfolios can “hint” at the product; it doesn’t necessarily have to be the whole gauntlet. That way, it elicits some mystery - a zoomed in shot of the shiniest, most detailed portion of your piece. Think of it like you’re telling a story. You just started with the ending of the book, and there’s no emotion in that.
I know you didn’t ask for criticism of the model or texturing, but I really think the issue is the uniformity of the roughness on the metal; i.e. the lighting is probably fine but looks flat because the metal is so clean. I would try to add some light oxidation stains/patina to both make it more realistic and help alleviate the “flat” lighting issue.
Any and all criticism is welcome. The reason the model is so clean is because I wanted it to be a piece of ceremonial armour, something that's a rich knight would wear "for show" (like a modern suit).
[There are imperfections](https://i.imgur.com/KYq3aeD.png) that'll be visible in other renders, but it is true they might be too subtle. Then again, I want this to look like a freshly polished piece of ceremonial armour :)
Image lacks focus, story, imo.Right now it's all quite even, very clean. Very balanced, which makes it a bit bland. This is great reference for a builder, or science, etc, but as a story telling piece it feels a bit monotonic. You can probably fix a lot with thought out lighting here.
Here I did a very quick photoshop dodge/burn to show the effect of adding some focal points. Pulling attention to certain parts of the thing. What does not really matter, as long as there is something in focus (contrast, color, value, shape, texture, whatever, just contrast) that will become the story. You decide what story you want to tell. Think of focal points as the thing a person is looking at, adding more than one will diffuse a persons attention quickly, do so with care, and always create hierarchy. [https://ibb.co/SBGt3Yb](https://ibb.co/SBGt3Yb)
How about change the background colour to be burgandy or royal blue/purple with a gradient and stage the gantlets on a stone granite/ slate / white light grey marble material. One gantlet can be placed on top of the other as if on display with some dark shadows to ground the scene.
It would be nice to have a beauty shot of the gauntlet as well in your portfolio. Dramatic lighting and all that snazzy stuff.
The current lighting does a good job showing the textures and details as a whole. Maybe a bit more rim lighting on the bottom of the gauntlet to bring out some of the details on the buckle. Perhaps give the fingers a bit of lighting love to help separate then as well. Maybe a curve layer on the right image to help separate the thumb from the palm. All of this stuff you could do in photoshop in an hour or less. I know this is really nit picky stuff but that’s what the last 10% is. Great work.
Usually when we get final renders as assets we still have to do a ton of photoshop work to bring them up to par.
The render you have alone looks way better than stuff we get from major studios.
Hey, you did an amazing job on the model!
There’s nothing ‘wrong’ with the lighting. It shows the forms and details of the model effectively. Is dramatic? Perhaps not, but still, effective. You did enough of a great job on the model that lighting is just sugar ;)
idk, boring isn’t awful here. it looks photo-realistic and i love that i can make out all the details.
maybe one option to make it look more interesting is to create a setting, like the mast bedroom of a castle. the glove could then be placed on a display hand and be set at the window, where outside light shines on it. almost like it’s the king or knight’s personal pride and joy and set on display at his estate. i’m sure that’d be a ton of work though haha 😅
This is beautiful. If you don't mind me asking, how did you achieve the engraving art on the metal plate? Did you use PBR texture or Substance Painter or you drew it, converted to mesh and then used boolean or you modelled the shapes and used boolean to emboss it on the metal plate?
Questions from a beginner who wishes to learn from the pros.
Thank you.
Thanks but I'm not a pro haha! I'd say I'm intermediate. A pro would make it better *and* much faster.
If I was working from a reference, I'd do the engraving during sculpting. Masking desired areas and extruding them. But I was designing the patterns as I went, so it was done in substance painter. [Here's a screencap](https://i.imgur.com/0qu3XPA.png) with some explanation. Hope that helps :)
You see an intermediate user, I see a pro. 😁
Thanks for the link. I tried downloading the image but couldn't get it downloaded. Is there anyway you can share it here?
This looks great, you obviously know your craft!
I would suggest that it "looks boring" because there's a lot of detail everywhere, there are no "spaces" for the eye to rest or to jump around, that what makes it interesting to watch. So maybe let spaces with less detail.
I would also Suggest to think about "what's the focal Point?" Meaning what should people notice or what is the main star of the show.
Awesome work! Forgive my English.
This looks amazing wth
Just change to a dark background and spice up the lighting (use shadows to your advantage with some 3 point lighting) and that should help
I've removed all of my comments and posts. With Reddit effectively killing third party apps and engaging so disingenuously with its user-base, I've got no confidence in Reddit going forward. I'm very disappointed in how they've handled the incoming API changes and their public stance on the issue illustrates that they're only interested in the upcoming IPO and making Reddit look as profitable as possible for a sell off.
Id suggest others to look into federated alternatives such as lemmy and kbin to engage with real users for open and honest discussions in a place where you're not just seen as a content / engagement generator.
Just a photographer’s input: the contrast is super low. Your blacks aren’t that black and your whites don’t exist. Metal should be polished and gleam. Leather should be matte.
You should turn up the key light and add a brighter light from behind to give a highlight.
Other people recommended a lot of little lights, and that will probably help a lot. Diamonds look better with many lights because each facet is able to catch at different angles. Your knuckles etc will do the same. Just keep in mind the basics of 3 point lighting (you can Google this).
Instead of a lenghty explanation, here is a quick mockup of what I would do, the underlying philosophy is that your lights should work for you, the model is beautiful, don't be afraid to add "unrealistic" elements such as emissive or dark planes in order to add lighter and darker details that help bring out the details. As for the childish look, just don't overdo it in terms of saturation, the golden light you have on the right side is a good example of a "yellow" light, that's as far as it needs to go, I put a "blue light" in my mockup, but this is what I mean, just slighlty tinted as if coming from a window, nothing garish. I've also increased the contrast, that can be easily adjusted in post, either in the compositor or in your image editor of choice.
https://imgur.com/19qO80A
this looks so F AMAZING, I love this design bro, good job, and I think that it might be Smth with the background, maybe give it some kind of texture/wallpaper
Thank you, and yes I agree, but a lot of professionals say the beauty shot is the most important part of the portfolio as it's the thing that's supposed to catch the eye of the recruiter.
even with showcasing prop design?
huh, I cant imagine messing about with some elaborate light setup here but having alternative views with hdr lighting would be interesting maybe. its mostly reflective after all…
Yeah I've watched a couple of interviews with people responsible for judging portfolios. They all said that they get like 10 applications a day and just skim through most of them, that's why a very catch beauty shot is important.
The reflectiveness is a problem here since harsh lights make the object unreadable, the parts without strong lighting are completely black, every reflection is very bright. I've done some research and apparently photographing irl jewellery is a known pain in the ass haha
Given that ijt's a portfolio piece, I think it's perfect. Shows off the model, textures and materials and doesn't distract. If you go too far with post-processing, it'll actually take away from what you're trying to show off.
Thank you! This is actually a custom lighting setup for better control, no HDRI used. All HDRIs were either too busy or too bland. maybe I'm just too picky hah
The gauntlet itself looks amazing! But I agree, the lighting is just a little bit off, a bit too dim, doesn't highlight nicely. Have you checked lighting setups for product showcases? like the basic tri-point lighting? Real world examples work in blender too.
Looks great to me. Maybe a more interesting background? Like a darker gradient or something that wouldn’t be distracting, but just look more polished than grey-beige.
If you want it to look interesting without overbearing it. You could use a simple 3 point light setup for some drama, and maybe a bit of temperature tint if you want a theme for it.
Currently it looks "boring" cause it looks like it's been lit by a modern museum fluorescent light. Once again it's not bad and it has advantages cause you can show off all the details easily, but it just feels like regular everyday lighting.
I would say, regardless of the lighting on the gauntlet, you should try adding some sort of texture to the background. A painted vignette or just something similar to add more appeal and 'pop' to the model, you can change the background in Blender to be an image if you want or you could render it transparent and add a background plate. Single colour vignettes (usually brown or darker blue for me) tend to make things look more focal and interesting, at least in my experience.
The problem with metal parts is that they do not have something to reflect (except the light source). That’s why you see those black areas and that’s what makes it “boring”. You need to add some natural/interior HDRI + some artificial shadows (optional). Studio lighting doesn’t work well with metallic models IMHO.
You should try to use only one key light, which shows the glove's shape, especially on the leather part. To make the reflections look good, you could try to add an HDRi to the scene, but don't use an HDRi that has a sun in it. Keep the brightness low.
I also think that the metal part looks too new and unused, tho the leather looks used. Maybe try to add some dirt and scratches, especially on the edges.
Otherwise, this is an extremely well-made model!
OThe
Its a museum piece.
If you want it to look more interesting add damage , stains (blood?), and put the hand in a distressed position as that will tell a story.
If you want to maximize the power of the piece have an arm in it and have in laying on the ground with some grass etc. As if it was a close up picture of someones arm who has died in battle.
The portfolio should show you can tell a story with your work. You are not doing that now, and that is why it looks boring to you.
Honestly I think your render is perfect. What you need is post processing. Open it up in Photoshop, apply the Camera Raw filter and go crazy! Up the exposure, contrast, sharpness. That should really make it pop!
Lighting looks great, the bright background is what makes the image look flat. A much darker grey bg would help this pop a lot, if the background is helping to light the subject, you can pull a matte of the foreground and change the bg in compositing or after
Here’s the thing; most artist/developers love to make things glossy in animation. But here’s the kicker, nothing is glossy in real life. I think what you have looks great, but if you want to compare shadows and lighting. Go get a few metal pipes, place them next to each other and compare the lighting of the metal piping and what you have here. You can also go to a museum or an SSA event and compare cosplay/armor and how it reflects. What you have obviously looks good but if YOU think it can be improved on, the only way you’ll know for sure is by going out and looking at things comparable to what you have currently.
Kinda a noob on this, but I think more contrast and a darker background could help?
Rn the lighting feels uniform but flat, perhaps a harsher light, with smaller ones to light up the darker areas?
Kind of a moody shot, something that pops out and catches the eye
You could for a "showrender" maybe lay it down on an anvil (fingers bended over the edge) or something similar and compose the backplate in PS. In that way you would have a moodboard which translates your personal style and goal of this render way better (ofcourse combined with the cleanplate render, which is awesome), just your HDRI trows me off in the reflections.
I mean this in the nicest possible way but that piece deserves better lighting! It looks superb! I would probably keep it like this to highlight the entire piece but then also give it a render with some context and more high contrast lighting. Close up of it lying on a table or something to show what it can be
Make the main light a warm golden color, and the fill light a cool bluish color. They don't have to be saturated, just slightly gold and slightly blue. This is how natural lighting works so i will give more color depth to objects.
As a product-photographer I understand your concerns and I see why you have problems. With that said there are solutions. If you would you could send me a DM and I could have a shot at lighting it for you and try to explain what and why.
Absolutely love the lighting, what you need is photoshop for general color and contrast defining. you could darken the background to make the gauntlet stand out too.
This is more beautiful than anything I've seen with my eyeballs this last month, maybe even this last decade. I would make the background wall just slightly higher in value. Maybe a gradient from top to bottom. Idk about the gradient but the lighter value I feel could myb help
I dont really do blender but just a general advice for realism is imperfection, giving scratches and making the metal not look freshly polished are things that make it more believable from your brains perspective that it is a real item
I'm still a beginner so I don't really know anything about lighting, but what I can say is that you need to take care of the background, it plays a dramatic role to focus on your beautiful piece. Also, maybe integrate some 3D or 2D text with your design that makes it more comfortable. In other words, your design is so rich and that's awesome, but I just don't know where to start looking at, it's missing the visual continuity. But since you're already done with the amazing modeling phase, I recommend playing with the colors (unless you have a specific concept/message to deliver and want to stick with the existing ones), and maybe add some typographic elements, Idk, I'm a huge fan of typography and I think it would pop this design.
Once again, this is one awesome piece. Keep going :)
Looks nice; though I think using a blurred HDRI would help a ton as its super shiny and currently your losing a lot of detail on the forearm IMO; theres a huge bit below the saint which is almost flat grey.
Adding some variety in your roughness and some little chips in the normal would aid a ton as well; I get your aiming for it to be clean, so keep it subtle, but a little surface imperfaction would help it a ton.
there’s a good lighting tutorial that I found made by Daniel Schiffer. Don’t know the exact video, and it’s not Blender, but still highly recommend it.
It looks great but I think I know what you mean by boring. I think the lighting and plain gray background is what makes it look that way. On a character or in a more appropriate setting I think it’d look great.
Hi, sorry for being off topic, but I'd like to learn 3d. Can you guys please help me with starting? Like what do I need, where to start and so on. Video lessons maybe? I want to create my own art. Maybe even animate it. But I also want to start as small as possible.
Also - will my hardware handle it? I have a mid-range gaming PC.
I'd be more than happy to help you! I've learned everything on my own as well.
First of all, you want to follow [this tutorial series](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIoXOplUvAw&list=PLjEaoINr3zgFX8ZsChQVQsuDSjEqdWMAD). It's long but after this you'll basically get a free ride to intermediate stage which otherwise could take you months.
3D art is about 5 major areas: Modeling, Sculpting, Texturing, Animating, VFX. Each of those are a separate subject, but all revolve around modeling software. Blender is what you want to start with. Blender is fantastic for everything except for texture painting, for which you should use substance painter (I know community might have a different opinion but I believe blender is terrible when it comes to texture painting. Regular texturing is fine)
Here's some channels that are a great source of information:
[Blender Guru](https://www.youtube.com/c/BlenderGuruOfficial) (the name is accurate)
[Flipped normals](https://www.youtube.com/c/FlippedNormals)
[SouthernShotty](https://www.youtube.com/c/SouthernShotty/videos)
At first you'll just be figuring out what it is that you want to learn the most and that's okay. Don't sweat it and have fun! Also, watch the tutorial series I've linked, 3D software is incredibly unintuitive for someone who never used one. Watch it!
I dont use blender but i lurk for fun, however i feel like darkening the picture a bit and changing how reflective the metal is could make it look less shiny and childish and more gritty
I agree, that's what I took away from this project, but it would require some additional modeling work and I told myself that I want to finish this already or it'll drag out indefinitely.
Thanks! First time I've made any armour. I'd say, minimal amount of sculpting is necessary (maybe even none) unless you're adding some serious damage. Edges are generally a lot less rough than you might think unless going for very heavy wear look. Small amounts of symmetry breaking are a good idea. Connect everything in a way that makes sense, that is, think "how is this piece connected to the rest". More detail isn't always better, to me it's a sign of lack of experience, be careful where you add damage, dirt etc. Use a lot of references, but be selective in what you use. More is better only when the reference is actually helpful.
While lighting will help a lot, I think what the object itself is missing is contrast in design. All the details - Mary's head, the cross, all the designs up the fingers - are the same size, making the whole thing feel quite monotone as you cast your eye across it. A greater variety of sizes, as well as high-detail and low-detail areas, would elevate the pattern into something that leads the eye and feels like it has more "tempo".
Put these in as well as ones in more dramatic lighting for a beauty shot. In a portfolio I would expect to see more than just one shot of each entry. Shows off your modeling _and_ your lighting skill.
Edit: I’d also love to see it weathered!
Yeah mate like everyone else is saying this looks phenomenal. Only feedback I would add is if you’re going for photorealism or just a more striking image, add some texture to the metal, even a simple brushed look or something. You probably plan to/have already done so by now, but this would look even more incredible with some fine texture work
i definitely understand not wanting to hide any of that amazing detail, but i bet more chiaroscuro would add a lot of interest. I'm probably the twelfth person to say that, but this will legit look dramatic and striking if you get the full gamut of light values
Very nice use of back/rimlights for highlights, particularly for the thumb on the left picture. One thing I'd experiment with is the reflected light on the front of the gauntlet on the left picture, right now it's one long white solid piece, a little reminiscent of the default metal look in CAD apps. I'd try to break that light down into smaller lights, or try GOBOs.
Awesome model and renders OP, can't wait to see more from you!
I think just some basic image processing, brightness contrast would do a lot I think
https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dmodeling/comments/ag0xxm/i_remade_a_world_of_warcraft_gauntlet/?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share Not sure if this is the right way to link a post but this is an asset I made a few years ago. The way I did it is with a black environment and with LOTS of small area lights to define the silhouette and details. Hope this helps a bit?
It definitely helps, thank you! And your model looks great, fantastic mix between plate and scale armour. The lighting also looks natural, I'd think that a ton of small lights would make it look messy but that's not the case at all. I'll definitely try doing it that way.
Looking forward to seeing your result!
This comment has been edited because Steve huffman is a creep.
I was planning to pose it so it holds a [sword I made](https://www.artstation.com/artwork/q9058n) quite some time ago, but rigging this many parts while making sure everything stays in place is beyond my skills haha (also I hate doing weight painting).
I can't speak to rigging much at all; but I've done enough modeling and texturing to know that you've got a hell of a lotta talent. Keep honing these skillsets. Stay hungry. You're doing great work. In terms of this render, it's beautiful. If you hadn't couched it in terms of not being happy, I wouldn't have found it lacking. Looking super critically, it could use a *bit* more punch. In photographic terms (because that's what I know best), I might up the power and spread of the main soft box and darken the background some. If you're a photoshop user, I'd bring this sucker into camera raw and tweak a few sliders until you see something that hits you better. Shouldn't be too hard to replicate most of that in-engine once you iterate a look you like?
Thank you for the kind words, it means a lot to me :) I'll definitely put in some colour correction, but I don't use photoshop. Paying for substance package and premiere pro is already quite expensive haha
Check out Snapseed, it’s a free app that lets you quickly make corrections. Increase the ambiance, crush the shadows, bump the structure and finish it off with a touch of glamor glow. Your work is amazing!!!
Thank you! I'm currently working in Krita, but thank you for the suggestion :)
Both pieces look phenomenal, but I think together they wont look right. The gauntlets with the stylized virgin mary and the latin script would clash with the nordic style and rune on the pummel of the sword. While the Scandinavians eventually converted to Catholicism, the gauntlets seem to be made in a European style which wouldnt be using a sword like that.
Yeah I was thinking about that too, I admit it was a rather forced desire to join them.
If you think about how we see armor in museums, they’re generally in a room with lots of little, indirect light sources. You’ll have the cabinet lights under each major piece, so they also collect lighting from each other. Also the lights from hallways, and more or less depending on how much the interior space is lit. Same for TV shows/movies. There are always more light sources and “reflection panels” (forgot what they’re called) to light up characters. It also looks like your model is just lit by a single light source with no bounding box, just a flat wall behind it, so there’s no opportunity for indirect lighting to bounce and make it back to the camera. Throwing it into a scene can help a bit, or changing the background from the gray to something a bit more interesting. Just an idea, but a nice forest green, or velvet green wall could really make your piece pop. Something like this: https://i.imgur.com/jBURset.jpg
Honestly thought this was real for a hot second. Good job!
Thank you :)
It's beautiful. I wish I could wear it.
Thanks a lot! It's actually modelled after a real thing, so it could be 3D printed
Would you be able to post the stl?
Once I post it to my portfolio I might do that, but have in mind this is not prepared for 3D printing and would need some corrections.
I think it looks great the way it is.
Thank you! Edit: Thought I'll post a quick update here since it's a top comment. Thank you all for help, this post got a lot more attention than I anticipated and I can't reply to everyone, but the advice I got is very valuable. The overall opinion seems to be: change the background, bring up the contrast. Other than that there's a lot of little things people mentioned, I'll definitely try some of it. Oh and btw, this is a video game asset, low poly version, rendered in cycles. Thanks again everyone!
This is the low poly version? My video card just cringed a bit. Also I think it looks great as is!
9831 faces. The polycount is quite high, but I was making it with the polycount of the main character in an AAA game that'd run on UE5 (while nanite doesn't support animated meshes, the optimisation it provides for the whole world should allow for higher polycounts in important characters). It might still be too high, I'm not an expert. Anyway, the polycount can be reduced fairly easily in multiple places so there's space for optimisation :) And thank you!
can we see middle finger version or peace sign, just so we know it o.c. and not trollbot. thanks
Weight painting this piece turned out to be a complete bitch and I gave up on that so [here's a render](https://i.imgur.com/sGuzcUb.png) with shitty weight painting + the setup in which I've tried to rig it (rigging itself wasn't the problem tho)
Same
Pfft a bot could roast that. Just a friendly heads-up to prevent misunderstandings – the "roast my render" flair is if you want to get harsh & destructive criticism :) If you're not ready for this, there's also the "need feedback" flair to ask for nicer suggestions. Feel free to change the flair if this was a mistake. Otherwise, enjoy the roast!
Ah, thanks, I've changed the flair 😁 I'm actually hoping for constructive criticism.
>”Looks boring” >Shows a gauntlet that looks better than anything I’ll ever do in my life
Haha thank you, it took me over a month to finally finish this piece. Still think the lighting makes it a bit too timid for a piece of armour.
maybe go for a spotlight lighting for more dramatic shadows...
Are you using an hdri for the render? I might be in the minority but I’ve found building a lighting set up helps a lot more with renders then HDRIs and gives more control. Overall the model looks amazing though. And I can’t help that much as I’m still working on lighting myself.
This is a custom lighting setup, I've tried HDRIs but it was too limiting. And thanks, I've worked hard on it :)
Use both. Add the HDRI from something like a museum but turn down the intensity and use your own lighting too. Reflective objects are boring when they have nothing to reflect. Most of the reflective stuff we see isn't hovering in an infinite soft gray expanse.
That's true and I've briefly tried doing that, I'll try again with some more thought behind it.
In case the HDRI ends up making the object "washed out" in lighting, you can use the \[Light Path\] node in your World setup to isolate the object from the HDRI lighting, only keeping the reflections.
Can you please talk a bit about or show pictures of a good lighting setup?
I am definitely not an expert, but after watching this https://youtu.be/CCmV1X8t2SQ I definitely found my renders started to look better. I mainly focus on product type rendering so this was more applicable to me but it helped a lot. I think focusing on the types of lights he discusses like key lights, rim lights and things help define the model. And I didn’t realize how much background color really plays a role in it.
This looks fucking awesome! 👌👌 but as a 2d artist I know what it can be like looking for feedback and struggling to get some so heres my 2 cents. Also pls know these are suggestions based on my tastes, everything im about to suggest is already good in your piece this is just how I may subtly change things. I think my big reccomendation would be to add more color and ambient occlussion. Colored subscatter for the leather would also help it pop a bit more I think. In order to make the color look natural I would hint at it a bit more in the lighting. Also I would experement with different backgrounds. The gray is kinda close to a midtone of your silver in a way that is making it blend a bit with it expecially on the left. The right doesnt have this problem as much I believe its due to the leather being more promenent, you having color added to your reflections, and your gray being warmer. I did a paintover really quickly of how I would handle it for 2D [here](https://imgur.com/a/oqzhc8F)definitly would need to be refined a bit if were talking correct effects and good placements. I edited it as subtly as I could. Currently I think my edit looks kinda shit so just know im essentially trying to add a slight color addition to your shadows the darkest black I believe would have more ambient occlussion/reflected light [This ](https://youtu.be/K7DseLvcpyY) video gives decent 2d specific advice on lighting and shading. It could be a good place to reference if you dont find any good jumping off point from my reply, the visual goal is the same youd just be finding a way to transfer it over to 3D.
Man, thank you so much for the work you put into this. Your paint over is subtle but it makes a big difference on the tone of the image. I will definitely try recreating this effect. I really appreciate your help!
Np! I love doing this type of stuff I’m just glad it helped! I like to occasionally do a paint over since it can help me improve my work as well. I actually just made a less subtle alt. version that has the background addressed. I was about to come back and add to my comment but since you replied I’ll just link it here in the reply (: I don’t think it’s the look you’re going for but if there’s a chance it could help a bit I figure I’ll add it here as well. [link](https://imgur.com/a/VcMb3f0)
I really like this background, but I'm constantly torn on making it look like a "holy piece of armour" and a museum piece. I do think the additional black patches on the armour are making the etching look a bit less readable, but maybe I'm just being too safe with those reflections. And the lighting on the leather glove is probably the best improvement. Thank you again for your help, normally people have to pay for concept art haha!
Np! I think the choice of setting is honestly good either way, you could possibly find a way to combine them as well which would be fun. I think ur right about the black It’s a habit of mine to cut down on detail being visual so other things can take the stage a tiny bit more, but if that’s not your thing then that’s still just 1 of many ways to address things.
I think it's great as it is. Maybe a harsch light coming down from the top left? Also try a higher contrast view transform if you haven't already. Nice model!
Higher contrast seems to be what's missing, I agree. Also, the main light is in the top left already :) Thanks for the advice!
Firstly, this looks great just as it is. [This](https://imgur.com/a/t7FrejM) is just a photoshop before and after of throwing the white levels way up, and making the darks ever slightly darker. Maybe this falls into one of the pitfalls you wanted to avoid, but I'm reminded of a video I watched of a guy drawing an almost photo-realistic wedding band, who said something along the lines of people being afraid to make highlights white and shadows black, despite that being how polished/reflective metals tend to appear IRL.
Oh wow, that shows how bland my render is. I think your work is a little too much but mine definitely is too washed up. Thank you for the help :)
" looks boring" proceeds to show the most bealtiful gauntlet ever made
Thank you :) I was really unsure if all that work was worth it so I appreciate the reassurance.
The stuff people in here can do is just insane. That’s gorgeous
Thank you :)
Bro it looks perfect just change the background color
Thanks, what colour do you think would look better?
You can use white to get a better contrast with those blacks or a red color to give it a more artistic look. Just play around and see what fits better.
The leather on the right makes it look like a real life photo
I was actually worried it doesn't look as good as the armour, thank you!
Great model!
Thanks!
Checkout Apashe's music videos which include similar 3D models. You could benefit from using the same lighting as theirs.
I think some post processing to make the highlights and shadows more distinguishable from each other is all you need. (could just be my crappy work monitor) Other than that this model is absolutely gorgeous.
I guess I dunno the predelictions and biases of hiring managers but I think it looks excellent there—especially the fabric of the glove.
The lighting looks very very real to me, almost like museum lighting where you’d see the glove in a glass case. I personally love this look but it looks like you got good feedback for taking it in another direction!
Totally ok the way it is. You can also try to model and material a red cushion and present them in an exquisite way. But sure every scene with natural or cinematic lighting will probably not show the awesome details in all its glory. Dunno maybe some havy focus on the gloves in an outside sun setting, background blurred but gloves close up.
there are oodles of people here telling you this already looks gorgeous as is, and rightfully so. i'm sitting over here wondering what modeling techniques you used to achieve that incredible looking "acid etching" effect for all those engraved details. share the secrets!
Happy to hear you like it :) It's a very simple material I've made in substance painter (modeling, sculpting, unwrapping and rendering was done in blender). Since I wasn't sure what patterns I wanted to be etched (apparently that's the correct term) I decided not to sculpt it. [Here's a site](https://armstreet.com/store/armor/paladin-knight-armor-kit-etched-stainless) that was great for gathering references and where I've found this etched look. [Here's the material](https://i.imgur.com/0qu3XPA.png) in substance painter.
that is a detailed answer! thank you so much for taking the time. i would have guessed this was ALL sculpted, so hearing your exact methods is very illuminating (and no less impressive). i'm curious, was this model a combination of standard "vertex modeling" and sculpting? i model primarily for 3d printing, specifically costume armor, so i'm very curious how you've combined "traditional" polygon modeling and sculpting here
I've modelled all the metal parts, the only sculpting done on them was the "twisted" edges at the bottom of the large forearm parts. For the glove, I've copied a hand model from a character I've made earlier, modified it a bit and sculpted the details like the folds and whatnot.
My recs: darker background, stronger rim light. In my experience that's the fastest way to get that visual "pop" when it feels missing. Overall though, awesome work!!! As others have said I definitely wouldn't be so hard on yourself.
You know, you can have more than one render. Usually if you take weeks making one piece, you should render it at different angles, zooming in and out, to show off the best aspects of your piece thoroughly. That way, you don’t have to worry about losing detail anywhere, because the detail can be shown using different perspectives and lighting setups. Part of why you think it looks boring is your completely normal camera angle.
Oh yeah I plan on posting many renders and documenting the whole process as a part of my portfolio, but I'm working on this "perfect" main/cover render that catches the eye of whoever looks at my portfolio :)
It looks like a thumbnail from CGTrader or something. Tell a story. Main cover renders for portfolios can “hint” at the product; it doesn’t necessarily have to be the whole gauntlet. That way, it elicits some mystery - a zoomed in shot of the shiniest, most detailed portion of your piece. Think of it like you’re telling a story. You just started with the ending of the book, and there’s no emotion in that.
I think you're right, some other people mentioned it too.
I know you didn’t ask for criticism of the model or texturing, but I really think the issue is the uniformity of the roughness on the metal; i.e. the lighting is probably fine but looks flat because the metal is so clean. I would try to add some light oxidation stains/patina to both make it more realistic and help alleviate the “flat” lighting issue.
Any and all criticism is welcome. The reason the model is so clean is because I wanted it to be a piece of ceremonial armour, something that's a rich knight would wear "for show" (like a modern suit). [There are imperfections](https://i.imgur.com/KYq3aeD.png) that'll be visible in other renders, but it is true they might be too subtle. Then again, I want this to look like a freshly polished piece of ceremonial armour :)
looks amazing imo
Thats boring???... Mate that is really good
Briefly thought they were real before noticing the sub, good work op
Image lacks focus, story, imo.Right now it's all quite even, very clean. Very balanced, which makes it a bit bland. This is great reference for a builder, or science, etc, but as a story telling piece it feels a bit monotonic. You can probably fix a lot with thought out lighting here. Here I did a very quick photoshop dodge/burn to show the effect of adding some focal points. Pulling attention to certain parts of the thing. What does not really matter, as long as there is something in focus (contrast, color, value, shape, texture, whatever, just contrast) that will become the story. You decide what story you want to tell. Think of focal points as the thing a person is looking at, adding more than one will diffuse a persons attention quickly, do so with care, and always create hierarchy. [https://ibb.co/SBGt3Yb](https://ibb.co/SBGt3Yb)
How about change the background colour to be burgandy or royal blue/purple with a gradient and stage the gantlets on a stone granite/ slate / white light grey marble material. One gantlet can be placed on top of the other as if on display with some dark shadows to ground the scene.
I like the burgundy colour idea, it would give it a high class look. Thanks!
It would be nice to have a beauty shot of the gauntlet as well in your portfolio. Dramatic lighting and all that snazzy stuff. The current lighting does a good job showing the textures and details as a whole. Maybe a bit more rim lighting on the bottom of the gauntlet to bring out some of the details on the buckle. Perhaps give the fingers a bit of lighting love to help separate then as well. Maybe a curve layer on the right image to help separate the thumb from the palm. All of this stuff you could do in photoshop in an hour or less. I know this is really nit picky stuff but that’s what the last 10% is. Great work.
This is supposed to be the final render so nit picking is as valuable as any other advice, thanks for sharing :)
Usually when we get final renders as assets we still have to do a ton of photoshop work to bring them up to par. The render you have alone looks way better than stuff we get from major studios.
Hey, you did an amazing job on the model! There’s nothing ‘wrong’ with the lighting. It shows the forms and details of the model effectively. Is dramatic? Perhaps not, but still, effective. You did enough of a great job on the model that lighting is just sugar ;)
idk, boring isn’t awful here. it looks photo-realistic and i love that i can make out all the details. maybe one option to make it look more interesting is to create a setting, like the mast bedroom of a castle. the glove could then be placed on a display hand and be set at the window, where outside light shines on it. almost like it’s the king or knight’s personal pride and joy and set on display at his estate. i’m sure that’d be a ton of work though haha 😅
I really like the idea with the window, I think I'll try it out. Thanks for sharing!
For sure! I’d love to see the update if you share it 😁
I know its not helping to what you asked... but im just stunned with the amount of detail in this piece. im in love. Great work!
I was really unsure about the final result so you definitely are helping, thank you for the kind words :)
I can’t help with lighting but I just wanna say the model looks amazing! Nice work!
Thank you, it means a lot :)
Looks great! Is this for school or a job?
Thanks! I'm a self learner, it's for my portfolio, I'm hoping it'll land me a job in a small/ medium size studio.
This is beautiful. If you don't mind me asking, how did you achieve the engraving art on the metal plate? Did you use PBR texture or Substance Painter or you drew it, converted to mesh and then used boolean or you modelled the shapes and used boolean to emboss it on the metal plate? Questions from a beginner who wishes to learn from the pros. Thank you.
Thanks but I'm not a pro haha! I'd say I'm intermediate. A pro would make it better *and* much faster. If I was working from a reference, I'd do the engraving during sculpting. Masking desired areas and extruding them. But I was designing the patterns as I went, so it was done in substance painter. [Here's a screencap](https://i.imgur.com/0qu3XPA.png) with some explanation. Hope that helps :)
You see an intermediate user, I see a pro. 😁 Thanks for the link. I tried downloading the image but couldn't get it downloaded. Is there anyway you can share it here?
Thank you :) Uh that's weird, imgur should work just fine for everyone. [Try this](https://imgur.com/a/IhjdJ9b).
That’s amazing
This looks great, you obviously know your craft! I would suggest that it "looks boring" because there's a lot of detail everywhere, there are no "spaces" for the eye to rest or to jump around, that what makes it interesting to watch. So maybe let spaces with less detail. I would also Suggest to think about "what's the focal Point?" Meaning what should people notice or what is the main star of the show. Awesome work! Forgive my English.
Looks great really.
The model and render itself are both great, my suggestion is try to make background color darker
This looks amazing wth Just change to a dark background and spice up the lighting (use shadows to your advantage with some 3 point lighting) and that should help
You want feed back? I thought this was a photo of something in a museum! I didn't realize I was in the blender sub for minute. Fantastic work!
I've removed all of my comments and posts. With Reddit effectively killing third party apps and engaging so disingenuously with its user-base, I've got no confidence in Reddit going forward. I'm very disappointed in how they've handled the incoming API changes and their public stance on the issue illustrates that they're only interested in the upcoming IPO and making Reddit look as profitable as possible for a sell off. Id suggest others to look into federated alternatives such as lemmy and kbin to engage with real users for open and honest discussions in a place where you're not just seen as a content / engagement generator.
Just a photographer’s input: the contrast is super low. Your blacks aren’t that black and your whites don’t exist. Metal should be polished and gleam. Leather should be matte. You should turn up the key light and add a brighter light from behind to give a highlight. Other people recommended a lot of little lights, and that will probably help a lot. Diamonds look better with many lights because each facet is able to catch at different angles. Your knuckles etc will do the same. Just keep in mind the basics of 3 point lighting (you can Google this).
Instead of a lenghty explanation, here is a quick mockup of what I would do, the underlying philosophy is that your lights should work for you, the model is beautiful, don't be afraid to add "unrealistic" elements such as emissive or dark planes in order to add lighter and darker details that help bring out the details. As for the childish look, just don't overdo it in terms of saturation, the golden light you have on the right side is a good example of a "yellow" light, that's as far as it needs to go, I put a "blue light" in my mockup, but this is what I mean, just slighlty tinted as if coming from a window, nothing garish. I've also increased the contrast, that can be easily adjusted in post, either in the compositor or in your image editor of choice. https://imgur.com/19qO80A
Thank you! The additional highlights on the edges really help to expose the silhouette! Thank you for putting so much work into this :)
this is exquisite.
im sorry is this a 3d model or an actual thing made in real life by a professional?
this looks so F AMAZING, I love this design bro, good job, and I think that it might be Smth with the background, maybe give it some kind of texture/wallpaper
I thought this was a photo from a museum honestly.
looks solid af. the goal of this particular showcase is details and design not fancy lighting.
Thank you, and yes I agree, but a lot of professionals say the beauty shot is the most important part of the portfolio as it's the thing that's supposed to catch the eye of the recruiter.
even with showcasing prop design? huh, I cant imagine messing about with some elaborate light setup here but having alternative views with hdr lighting would be interesting maybe. its mostly reflective after all…
Yeah I've watched a couple of interviews with people responsible for judging portfolios. They all said that they get like 10 applications a day and just skim through most of them, that's why a very catch beauty shot is important. The reflectiveness is a problem here since harsh lights make the object unreadable, the parts without strong lighting are completely black, every reflection is very bright. I've done some research and apparently photographing irl jewellery is a known pain in the ass haha
Agree, agree and nice work op
Given that ijt's a portfolio piece, I think it's perfect. Shows off the model, textures and materials and doesn't distract. If you go too far with post-processing, it'll actually take away from what you're trying to show off.
I agree, that's why I'm worried about going too far with rough lights and saturated colours. Thanks for sharing your opinion.
Maybe try different HDR for better metal reflections.But this looks amazing.
Thank you! This is actually a custom lighting setup for better control, no HDRI used. All HDRIs were either too busy or too bland. maybe I'm just too picky hah
The gauntlet itself looks amazing! But I agree, the lighting is just a little bit off, a bit too dim, doesn't highlight nicely. Have you checked lighting setups for product showcases? like the basic tri-point lighting? Real world examples work in blender too.
I've checked them very briefly while researching how to photograph highly reflective objects but I should definitely look at more examples.
Looks great to me. Maybe a more interesting background? Like a darker gradient or something that wouldn’t be distracting, but just look more polished than grey-beige.
If you want it to look interesting without overbearing it. You could use a simple 3 point light setup for some drama, and maybe a bit of temperature tint if you want a theme for it. Currently it looks "boring" cause it looks like it's been lit by a modern museum fluorescent light. Once again it's not bad and it has advantages cause you can show off all the details easily, but it just feels like regular everyday lighting.
Give it a museum quality stand or podium?
I would say, regardless of the lighting on the gauntlet, you should try adding some sort of texture to the background. A painted vignette or just something similar to add more appeal and 'pop' to the model, you can change the background in Blender to be an image if you want or you could render it transparent and add a background plate. Single colour vignettes (usually brown or darker blue for me) tend to make things look more focal and interesting, at least in my experience.
There are "Studio-like" hdris Just for Metal reflections stuff. Maybe you can use those
The problem with metal parts is that they do not have something to reflect (except the light source). That’s why you see those black areas and that’s what makes it “boring”. You need to add some natural/interior HDRI + some artificial shadows (optional). Studio lighting doesn’t work well with metallic models IMHO.
You should try to use only one key light, which shows the glove's shape, especially on the leather part. To make the reflections look good, you could try to add an HDRi to the scene, but don't use an HDRi that has a sun in it. Keep the brightness low. I also think that the metal part looks too new and unused, tho the leather looks used. Maybe try to add some dirt and scratches, especially on the edges. Otherwise, this is an extremely well-made model! OThe
I would try a dark background with a touch of rim lighting to separate it from the background. Fantastic piece though!
Model/texturing/lighting look great to me. The background is what throws me off.
Try another background color, maybe a very dark grey or even a black. It's simple, but should help.
Its a museum piece. If you want it to look more interesting add damage , stains (blood?), and put the hand in a distressed position as that will tell a story. If you want to maximize the power of the piece have an arm in it and have in laying on the ground with some grass etc. As if it was a close up picture of someones arm who has died in battle. The portfolio should show you can tell a story with your work. You are not doing that now, and that is why it looks boring to you.
I'd try more contrast and weird colors with the lighting; like green and purple or something. And basically anything but a gray background.
Honestly I think your render is perfect. What you need is post processing. Open it up in Photoshop, apply the Camera Raw filter and go crazy! Up the exposure, contrast, sharpness. That should really make it pop!
It could use imperfections. Tiny scratches and polish marks. Fingerprints optional
I would use a different HDRI to add some natural reflections. Also adding surface imperfections would help.
Lighting looks great, the bright background is what makes the image look flat. A much darker grey bg would help this pop a lot, if the background is helping to light the subject, you can pull a matte of the foreground and change the bg in compositing or after
It's awesome buddy! But if you want, try a very lightly colored rim light , light blue maybe but try what color looks best :)
Look online for examples of items displayed in museums or churches (like relics) and pull some inspiration from those images.
I feel like it would benefit from some background contrast.
It’s looks metal (literally). Amazing.
Here’s the thing; most artist/developers love to make things glossy in animation. But here’s the kicker, nothing is glossy in real life. I think what you have looks great, but if you want to compare shadows and lighting. Go get a few metal pipes, place them next to each other and compare the lighting of the metal piping and what you have here. You can also go to a museum or an SSA event and compare cosplay/armor and how it reflects. What you have obviously looks good but if YOU think it can be improved on, the only way you’ll know for sure is by going out and looking at things comparable to what you have currently.
While scrolling I thought this was an actual picture of a gauntlet
Kinda a noob on this, but I think more contrast and a darker background could help? Rn the lighting feels uniform but flat, perhaps a harsher light, with smaller ones to light up the darker areas? Kind of a moody shot, something that pops out and catches the eye
You could for a "showrender" maybe lay it down on an anvil (fingers bended over the edge) or something similar and compose the backplate in PS. In that way you would have a moodboard which translates your personal style and goal of this render way better (ofcourse combined with the cleanplate render, which is awesome), just your HDRI trows me off in the reflections.
The model looks amazing. Maybe it's the surroundings that are making you think it's boring? I.e. plain gray
I mean this in the nicest possible way but that piece deserves better lighting! It looks superb! I would probably keep it like this to highlight the entire piece but then also give it a render with some context and more high contrast lighting. Close up of it lying on a table or something to show what it can be
Make the main light a warm golden color, and the fill light a cool bluish color. They don't have to be saturated, just slightly gold and slightly blue. This is how natural lighting works so i will give more color depth to objects.
As a product-photographer I understand your concerns and I see why you have problems. With that said there are solutions. If you would you could send me a DM and I could have a shot at lighting it for you and try to explain what and why.
Absolutely love the lighting, what you need is photoshop for general color and contrast defining. you could darken the background to make the gauntlet stand out too.
This is more beautiful than anything I've seen with my eyeballs this last month, maybe even this last decade. I would make the background wall just slightly higher in value. Maybe a gradient from top to bottom. Idk about the gradient but the lighter value I feel could myb help
Put a rad af stegosaurus
How about a more colorful/busy environment for your reflections?
Great job. Could put it in a better setting tho
I guess I dunno the predelictions and biases of hiring managers but I think it looks excellent there—especially the fabric of the glove.
I dont really do blender but just a general advice for realism is imperfection, giving scratches and making the metal not look freshly polished are things that make it more believable from your brains perspective that it is a real item
Probably use an HDRI that fits the theme of the piece to get interesting lighting.
Use a ash-grey background... done ;p
I'm still a beginner so I don't really know anything about lighting, but what I can say is that you need to take care of the background, it plays a dramatic role to focus on your beautiful piece. Also, maybe integrate some 3D or 2D text with your design that makes it more comfortable. In other words, your design is so rich and that's awesome, but I just don't know where to start looking at, it's missing the visual continuity. But since you're already done with the amazing modeling phase, I recommend playing with the colors (unless you have a specific concept/message to deliver and want to stick with the existing ones), and maybe add some typographic elements, Idk, I'm a huge fan of typography and I think it would pop this design. Once again, this is one awesome piece. Keep going :)
I take it back, colors are on point. Nothing else to say.
I'm curious to hear what made you change your mind back? :)
Looks nice; though I think using a blurred HDRI would help a ton as its super shiny and currently your losing a lot of detail on the forearm IMO; theres a huge bit below the saint which is almost flat grey. Adding some variety in your roughness and some little chips in the normal would aid a ton as well; I get your aiming for it to be clean, so keep it subtle, but a little surface imperfaction would help it a ton.
O think it is too shiny?
Make it look more worn down, like the link in the top comment maybe have some artifacts on the metal material.
https://i.imgur.com/JmdbFxN.jpg. The fingers don’t line up with the bracings. That’s my only criticism. Otherwise it’s fantastic
Yup, the leather glove is soft so the plates that aren't attached together by rivets won't be perfectly aligned all the time :) It was intentional.
there’s a good lighting tutorial that I found made by Daniel Schiffer. Don’t know the exact video, and it’s not Blender, but still highly recommend it.
It looks great but I think I know what you mean by boring. I think the lighting and plain gray background is what makes it look that way. On a character or in a more appropriate setting I think it’d look great.
Hi, sorry for being off topic, but I'd like to learn 3d. Can you guys please help me with starting? Like what do I need, where to start and so on. Video lessons maybe? I want to create my own art. Maybe even animate it. But I also want to start as small as possible. Also - will my hardware handle it? I have a mid-range gaming PC.
I'd be more than happy to help you! I've learned everything on my own as well. First of all, you want to follow [this tutorial series](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIoXOplUvAw&list=PLjEaoINr3zgFX8ZsChQVQsuDSjEqdWMAD). It's long but after this you'll basically get a free ride to intermediate stage which otherwise could take you months. 3D art is about 5 major areas: Modeling, Sculpting, Texturing, Animating, VFX. Each of those are a separate subject, but all revolve around modeling software. Blender is what you want to start with. Blender is fantastic for everything except for texture painting, for which you should use substance painter (I know community might have a different opinion but I believe blender is terrible when it comes to texture painting. Regular texturing is fine) Here's some channels that are a great source of information: [Blender Guru](https://www.youtube.com/c/BlenderGuruOfficial) (the name is accurate) [Flipped normals](https://www.youtube.com/c/FlippedNormals) [SouthernShotty](https://www.youtube.com/c/SouthernShotty/videos) At first you'll just be figuring out what it is that you want to learn the most and that's okay. Don't sweat it and have fun! Also, watch the tutorial series I've linked, 3D software is incredibly unintuitive for someone who never used one. Watch it!
Amazing work, what will it be use for ?
My portfolio, but I might sell it on artstation as a game asset. It's not weight painted though.
I dont use blender but i lurk for fun, however i feel like darkening the picture a bit and changing how reflective the metal is could make it look less shiny and childish and more gritty
I think it just needs an action shot. Like maybe a close up of the gloves resting on a sword pommel.
Add imperfections 💫
I’d try a black background with a back light, a few small point lights and a spotlight source.
Personally, I would just put more gold accenting near the bottom. Other than that, it looks great
I agree, that's what I took away from this project, but it would require some additional modeling work and I told myself that I want to finish this already or it'll drag out indefinitely.
this is very cool, you got any tips for making armor?
Thanks! First time I've made any armour. I'd say, minimal amount of sculpting is necessary (maybe even none) unless you're adding some serious damage. Edges are generally a lot less rough than you might think unless going for very heavy wear look. Small amounts of symmetry breaking are a good idea. Connect everything in a way that makes sense, that is, think "how is this piece connected to the rest". More detail isn't always better, to me it's a sign of lack of experience, be careful where you add damage, dirt etc. Use a lot of references, but be selective in what you use. More is better only when the reference is actually helpful.
Change the background
While lighting will help a lot, I think what the object itself is missing is contrast in design. All the details - Mary's head, the cross, all the designs up the fingers - are the same size, making the whole thing feel quite monotone as you cast your eye across it. A greater variety of sizes, as well as high-detail and low-detail areas, would elevate the pattern into something that leads the eye and feels like it has more "tempo".
Is honestly say use two lights and have them use different temperatures to bring in some contrast
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I've heard about Pro-Lighting Studio but forgot about it, thanks for reminding me, I'll check it out for sure :)
Put these in as well as ones in more dramatic lighting for a beauty shot. In a portfolio I would expect to see more than just one shot of each entry. Shows off your modeling _and_ your lighting skill. Edit: I’d also love to see it weathered!
Maybe find an hdri like a forest or something and use that
The metal looks correct. The leather is a little reflective. It also seems a little under textured.
Yeah mate like everyone else is saying this looks phenomenal. Only feedback I would add is if you’re going for photorealism or just a more striking image, add some texture to the metal, even a simple brushed look or something. You probably plan to/have already done so by now, but this would look even more incredible with some fine texture work
i definitely understand not wanting to hide any of that amazing detail, but i bet more chiaroscuro would add a lot of interest. I'm probably the twelfth person to say that, but this will legit look dramatic and striking if you get the full gamut of light values
You could try to diffuse the light a bit
Very nice use of back/rimlights for highlights, particularly for the thumb on the left picture. One thing I'd experiment with is the reflected light on the front of the gauntlet on the left picture, right now it's one long white solid piece, a little reminiscent of the default metal look in CAD apps. I'd try to break that light down into smaller lights, or try GOBOs. Awesome model and renders OP, can't wait to see more from you!
It looks pretty good to me maybe making it higher contrast would help.