Archive for May, 2021

I got my second shot of Moderna vaccine yesterday and it did make quite an impression 😀

On today’s menu: mostly resting and hydration.

I guess working out is off the table at least today given that my back feels like I’ve been run over by a train repeatedly.

I complain a lot but this is nothing that some R&R cannot cure, but I do feel sorry for those that have to go to work the next day.

The ballgag LPM model is now complete! I’ve finished the remaining straps, cleaned up, and re-optimized a few spots, and corrected the curvature steps here and there.

I also added all the low-poly rivets and metal fixtures to their respective models. I also finished the gag-ball model itself and optimized the inside of it as much as I could (It only needs to be visible after all, not pretty).

I’ve also figured out what I was doing wrong with the normal orientation cleanup on the cover sections that are used to show/hide the holes for the skins it will have and it is now basically seamless (before & after images included).

I started the unwrapping but I do want to give the straps ANOTHER pass, just to make sure that I’ve stripped out every possible hidden surface that I could. Overall the final model, with all the parts clocks around 12000 triangles at the moment.

This is quite a bit more than what I would have hoped, but I cannot really think of a way to bring it down significantly lower. Below 10K would be (purely arbitrary but) nice, I’m just not seeing 2000 triangles that I could simply do without at this point.

Low-polygon ballgag stuff! I know how much you all love those never-ending steps that never seem to get any closer to the final product.

I am getting a little worried because it is now tiptoeing over the 10000 triangle mark… not horrible but not amazing either, considering that the rivets aren’t in this version yet.

There is probably a bunch of edge loops I can simplify here and there, also the inside of the ball really doesn’t need a lot of detail either.

I could have waited until that overhead strap was completely done but I didn’t want to post this too late either.

You all know how this goes by now, takes the high-poly and patiently remodels over it something a lot more optimized 😛

4040 triangles so far.

That’s a little heavy considering all the things that I have yet to add. I’ll give those looped ends a second pass once I have everything else, and be a little more aggressive on those curves.

Or well, high-poly ballgag “complete enough” that I feel comfortable enough moving towards the next step: the low-poly version.

And yes, I did try to integrate a nose hook but it did not work as I hoped. Ryo gave me an idea for a different approach that would probably work better, so I’ll give it a try later.

I think the improvements to my leather backing, while subtle, look pretty good. Hopefully, it will look just as good on the low-poly model.

Sorry for the delayed texture update. It took me so long because I ended up unwrapping everything 3 or 4 times over the past 3 days. I kept getting distortions in my UV maps.

I am quite happy with this result so far, the grommets on the back strap need to be tightened a little but that’s an easy fix.

I really wanted to add a nose hook… I can probably still do it, but that will require some modification of the forehead strap… Unless I find a simpler way to do it…

I’m almost finished with a rough unwrapping of the ballgag high-poly model, just enough to be able to map the important textures that I’m going to need (mainly the leather grain and the masks for the stitching, holes, and grommets). Once I’m done with that, it should be good enough to move on to the low-polygon model.

I did try to make grommets but I’m going to use my normal method for baking those into the normal map instead. It doesn’t look right.

There is one thing that still bothers me: The straps feel a little “thin”, and that’s despite the fact they have all the right measurements. It might be nothing, ore maybe that’s something I can cheat a bit on the low-poly model.

I like my leatherwork to be just a little chunkier than it would realistically be.

Not as much progress as I would have liked, I decided to finish all the strap ends with a rounded tip, with the exception of buckle straps which will end in a point.

I also tackled the VERY time-consuming task of making a version with all the strap ends folded from the inside to the outside rather than the other way around. It is kind of pretty, but it makes the contrast color a bit overwhelming…

I ended up redoing the back buckle a couple of times, the keeper is currently a D-ring but I might change it to a simple metal keeper since I do not intend on having a leash point there.

Riveting progress… I should really be careful with terrible puns like these…

So what has changed?

• Spaced the back Y straps even further, moved the fork much higher and re-adjusted everything.
• Separated the neck strap into 3 parts and re-adjusted everything.
• Started detailing the back buckle.
• Riveted (almost) everything.
• Did some quick material tweaks (backing).

As for the last picture… I don’t really like those square strap ends, so I made two variants. I’m also tempted to reverse those loop ends (I might try for the next blog update) to expose the accent color a bit more.

If I still want to add a nose hook, there isn’t much space left for one sadly >_<.