@theluthier I was expecting artifacts and, all kinds of growing pains, but not at this magnitude…
in hindsight, my “hypothesis” is, clumsiness due to lack of experience and learning on the fly aside:
1) the difference between my high and low poly meshes is just too extreme (hundreds vs tens of millions) for this method of “tricking” via normal maps to actually work and not look like a parody of self… it seems btw, after a very sloppy research, that what I was expecting and going for is achievable with displacement maps, which, are in our case a no no (engine limitations)… bla… after trying different extrusion settings, then shooting in the dark with all kinds of settings and even trying to introduce a cage, no significant amelioration presented itself…
2) the sculpting itself needs to have its goal in mind throughout the process… for example, the stones in the support should not vary in offset (in regard to the target geometry) as much as they do in my end result, etc…
I would (if there was time, and, also seeing that I just may have misinterpreted the whole ‘low poly; follow the concept art closely’ directive from the get go) actually redo (!) : D the whole thing, from scratch with all these (and many more) things learned in mind… as the sunday deadline nears though, and the fact that all my activities here were practically derailed by unexpected events this week doesn’t help either; realistically, I’ll try and use the time remaining to “fix” instead, and go for finished rather than what I would find satisfactory… and… cannot even guarantee that in good conscious, all things considered, two days before the curtain drops…
thanks @theluthier for, well, everything! : ) if you do find the time to share some thoughts on my “hypothesis” while putting together all these different assets driven by a vague interpretation of a digital painting, from different people from all four corners of this lovely planet of ours into a unified master file, hunting for missing cavity maps and finding a naming convention and a method of syncing that just may work, all within a month, in a location that one can walk through, even if only by WASD (did I mention that this whole endeavour is, crazy aside, to me just astonishing ; ) I would appreciate it, but, totally not hold a grudge if you don’t…
: )
I have, in a way, hitched a ride here… the clearly stated prerequisites (courses at least viewed) ignored; because, for me, it was a unique opportunity to, as I’ve openly stated on multiple occasions, “make myself” actually do and learn things that I normally wouldn’t, such as sculpting, UV mapping, texture baking… and for a better part, it worked!
: )
I’ve learned a lot!
had it all gone (my side) according to the plan, it would have worked “completely” I dare claim!
: D
I’ll stop writing now and open blender, maybe to finally try and see, if a little late, what in bloodyBlazes cavity maps actually ARE…
