Wed, Feb 24, 2021 at 8:00 AM
David,
No further progress yet. Just a quick word regarding some limitations on what I am able to provide in a technical sense. In particular, some of that 'fine detail work' (eye candy) you would like to see in the final graphic may pose a difficulty for me. I'm not doubting my skills but rather am confronted by limitations of what the software at my disposal will allow me to do. The best way to provide the look you want:
" ...prominent scarring from small, fast impacts, and a fair amount of industrial abuse. This last would include scrapes and scratches in the paint; gouges in the metal; obvious dents; and maybe even a few things clearly broken or missing. "
... is to paint those imperfections onto the object. One can do this in a 2D way, painting a texture image in a program such as the Photoshop, Krita or Gimp and then taking that image into the 3D world and mapping it onto the object(s). This entails a bit of back-and-forth, getting things right, and gets a wee bit fiddly when trying to work in certain areas of an object. The preferred method would be to actually paint the 3D object within the 3D environment. The Blender program allows for a bit of this, but seems to be rather limited in what can be achieved without some major fussing. There are some dedicated 3D texture painting programs out that that really shine in terms of what can be produced (Substance Painter, Z-Brush, etc). Unfortunately, I don't have them, nor access to them. Too, these carry very steep price tags. I'm looking at some cheap(er)/free alternatives, but just don't know how much I can expect out of these. What all of this really means is that I'm going to have to invest some quality time investigating the best way to achieve the right look (relative to what you/we want), commensurate with the tools available.
Time will tell what sacrifices have to be made. (ha!), but in any case, I'm sure we'll end up with some sort of graphic(s) that should please.
Cheers,
- Ignatz
PS Just thought to state for the record that what I'm doing for you is without cost, essentially a 'quid pro quo' gesture of support for all the hours of enjoyment I've had from your wonderful stories and narration.