Swords, spear & shields...

Hornet · 06-19-2004

I need to make a number of these for a game I'm involved in making, and all the ones I've made so far just don't look right. They either look plastic, the joins look strange, or there's just something not-quite-right about 'em. I think it's because I'm making them a peice at a time using unrelated techniques and then sticking it all together afterwards, if you know what I mean, and so it looks unnatural.

So, does anyone know of any tutorials that deal with these sorts of things as a whole? I'm not trying to make 3d models, just coats of arms and the like. And anyone who links to that lightsabre tutorial will die a slow and painful death.

**Man1c M0g** · 06-19-2004

My good friend Goose made a pretty darned nice-looking knife over at http://users.kaski-net.net/~sector7/...nife/index.htm . Its not quite a sword or spear head, but I bet its easy to adapt.

Hornet · 06-20-2004

Whoot, perfect! And a prompt reply... Perhaps there is life in these forums yet. Thanks a lot M0g, that's almost exactly what I'm after! Now for the harder part - does anyone know of any shields?

**Man1c M0g** · 06-20-2004

Alas I couldn't find a tutorial on making shields in Photoshop in Google. :/ I don't think it'd be that complex though - just do the basic shape, add a metal effect, some gradients, and then engrave in a pattern. Simple!

PS. I used this method to generate some armour a couple of years back...

Yusecki · 06-20-2004

I'd like to help but I 'paint' my swords and such to make them stylized. Lots of layers, layer masks for EVERY layer, folders and sub-folders, making sure every layer has a name.. Thats how I make it all work that way if I want to focus on a particular bit I just click the folders to hide the parts I don't want etc etc so on and so forth.

As for actually making them I suggest using the line tool to get the basic shape over the top of the image, hide it most of the time and then show it to check if the shape is right. Using lighting efects and layer comps to get an idea of how its working. This tutorial may help you ith figuring out lighting and such and shading.

Milkdrop · 06-20-2004

Well then puill out a 3d modeler and model youself one. Trust me, i could make a knife or sword in under 10 mins and it would be photoreal.

Hornet · 06-20-2004

Getting a realistic metal effect is the hardest part though, but I've got the lighting cracked.

As for 3Ding it, I may have to so with some of the more complex ones such as halberds.

Thank you all!