Somua S-35 (back to the drawing board)

[VanPelt]

Well, as promised, I'm posting here the changes I'll be making to my Somua S-35 and will update the post in the gallery once the improvements are made. So far I got to the tank colours. There's a lot of discrepancies in the references I gathered, plus I don't have a trained eye for colours, but it's nothing that can't be overcome, I hope. What do you think?

[Wermut]

Excellent weathering! Do you mind posting a snapshot of your diffuse map?

[martin_3d]

Very impressive achievement.
What about your tracks ? Do you plan to weather them as well ?

[VanPelt]

Excellent weathering! Do you mind posting a snapshot of your diffuse map?
Thanks! Sure thing, I attached one to this post. The actual one is 4096x4096.

Very impressive achievement. What about your tracks ? Do you plan to weather them as well ?
Thank you! About the tracks, right now they have just a procedural texture to give them a random spec variation. I might weather them but since they are multiple instances of a single piece of track, I'm afraid making them all separate objects could give me some memory problems. In fact, I had to render tank and environment separately because I run out of memory if I try to render everything together.

[cobra6]

That is already looking a lot better! The thing with colours is that you should avoid having them too saturated. Also adding a lot of subtle weathering can influence the colour of the camo and make it stand out less :)

Cobra 6

[VanPelt]

New update! I found out that by activating "Color management" in Blender Internal it's activated in Cycles too. That way, textures appear in the same sRGB space as saved in Photoshop; before, colours looked darker and more saturated because gamma got warped at rendering time. Now the textures are more accurate but, in comparison with previous renders, I think they look way too washed out. What does colour-seeing people think? :D
Started tweaking the environment too, I changed the texture for a higher-res one, added a few scattered rocks for variety, and a shadow-casting light which, me thinks, looks better and adds some depth.

[Wermut]

Na, I don't think it's too washed out - the textures are clear and detailed. If anything, the previous ones seemed like a fair bit of the information was getting lost in all the black.

If you want to bring in some contrast and a bit more depth, I'd consider dropping some hefty AO on everything. :)
Looks good!

[falcon012]

Nice work. I like it better now. The textures display the kind of weathering one would expect to see on a machine of this sort in service.

[cobra6]

Much better indeed, it's always important to keep the settings in mind when texturing :)

One tip as well: Always avoid strong whites or blacks in textures, they look unreal, go for a light grey/dark grey instead.

Cobra 6

[VanPelt]

Thank you all for your feedback and tips! Here are a couple more updates:
Most notably, I changed the fence and gave it more detail. Made the tank less shiny too, and changed the back of the roadsign, now it's closer to the real thing. Tweaked the colours a little more, added an AO layer as suggested by Wermut, and modified the lighting (I actually suck at lighting, never quite got the hang of it), it's provided by an HDR and a shadow-casting sun lamp.
I hope it's getting better!

By the way, looking around in the website of the Service Historique de la Défense, I found an interesting original document (http://www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr/02fonds-collections/banquedocuments/materiel_armement/notice_armement/planblinde.php?id=34) about the S-35. Sadly, it's not complete, but is nevertheless worth a look!

[Executioner1939]

It's getting better each update, the AO has added a lot of depth to the image and the HDR lighting is working well. Well done :)

[VanPelt]

Thank you! :)
New mini-update now, softer shadows, duller metal (as suggested in another forum), and a soft light on the right side of the tank to lighten up the darker part.

[VanPelt]

And a new mini-mini-update... added some subtle blur/DoF and very slight lens distortion.

[VanPelt]

I uploaded a new version of the turntable animation to Vimeo, with all the changes and suggestions applied. You can find it here (http://vimeo.com/35236359). I hope you like it! :)

[cobra6]

Looking good! Are there currently any specular maps or not?

Cobra 6

[VanPelt]

Looking good! Are there currently any specular maps or not?

Thank you! Yes there are... it's particularly noticeable in the big scratch over the roundel on the back.

[HBalck]

Very good work ! This typ of french tanks I need. Where can I buy and download this nice figure - I need it for 3ds max for my free Panzer Corps Addon ?

Do you plan or have produced all other french tanks ? I have the UE, Lorraine, H-38 and Panhardt yet. I need all others !

Thank you !
http://www.slitherine.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=147&t=32127&p=300810#p300810
H.Balck

[cobra6]

Thank you! Yes there are... it's particularly noticeable in the big scratch over the roundel on the back.

No I meant more on the body of the tank with dirt, it seems to have very little definition when light plays on the surface.

Cobra 6

[VanPelt]

Very good work ! This typ of french tanks I need. Where can I buy and download this nice figure - I need it for 3ds max for my free Panzer Corps Addon ?
Thank you! It's not available for download, but there's a guy on DeviantArt who made an S-35 for CryEngine, you might want to check it out.

No I meant more on the body of the tank with dirt, it seems to have very little definition when light plays on the surface.

Good eye! The material on the flaps came out with the same texture in the diffuse and specular channels... obviously my hand slipped when preparing the file for render, and I didn't quite notice... :(. Corrected that, on the next update it should look like my last two stills. I guess it's pretty much finished now, even if it can always get better.

[HBalck]

It's not available for download, but there's a guy on DeviantArt who made an S-35 for CryEngine, you might want to check it out.
Thank you so mutch - but I cant find an download link for an S-35 !!???
Can you help me ?

H.Balck

[cobra6]

HBalck: People don't "just" put up download links to their models on internet. Most of them you have to buy and if it's a detailed model this could mean spending $400=>$1000 on your part.

Also I would like to ask you to stop asking to get/buy models in every thread. If you want to work out a deal PM the artist please, this is not a board used primarily for selling models. Turbosquid is a website for that.

Cobra 6

[Caman0]

amen to that

[HBalck]

$400=>$1000
You can buy there, I am buying my models at gunpoint3d, 3dworldclub, renderosity and Dalian SoftwarePark (China) for 20,-€ in China for only 3-5,-€ for every high poly model.

H.Balck

[cobra6]

You can buy there, I am buying my models at gunpoint3d, 3dworldclub, renderosity and Dalian SoftwarePark (China) for 20,-€ in China for only 3-5,-€ for every high poly model.

H.Balck

Sure, you can get them from China for 20 euro's, that does however not say they are modelled to the same standard, efficiently laid out and animatable properly. The models you post on this board are not considered high poly, they are more to a standard of low-poly game models just to let you know:)

Good work costs money and a fully modelled (detailed), textured and animated tank for $400=>$1000 is still a bargain considering the time that gets put in. Not to mention the software and hardware costs of the modeller, insurances, housing etc.

Cobra 6

[HBalck]

I payed only 3,-€ not 20,-€ for the chinese vehicles, but 480,-€ for all together - It's fantastic - they have really all possible vehicles for the WW2 and modern War.
BTW - thats all high poy models - but without texture - I produded all textures and I need only little figures for the game Panzer Corps.

I think - you could give some more respect - I produce not one vehicle - I do finish all possible !

H.Balck

[Karras]

If you know a site for buy models, put the link in the appropiate folder or discussion, but no here. Here only it's for show your work , no more ;-)

[cobra6]

HBalck: We are getting very off-topic here now. I do respect your work but I have to politely yet firmly ask you to stop asking to buy/download models here. This board is to show work, not a sales-board. There are other places for that.

The models you post here are classified as (quite) low-poly, and I can see why they would only cost ~4 euros. I was talking about something very different to begin with.

Back to the original matter of this thread now, the Somua tank.

Cobra 6