samjb1992 wrote:first thank you for the references and ideas, second what about the textures need work?
the program i am using is called 'cinema 4d r12'. no i have not watched any tuts on low ploy modeling i have been working on using less faces though.
I haven't used Cinema 4D, so I can't help there. What do you use for texturing, or are you doing that in the C4D as well?
Well, there's lots you could do. What you have now looks similar to what I used to do in Blender 3D when I only knew how to use the procedural textures. It has parts that are the metal and parts that are the hilt, but it lacks detail. There's no sharp edge in the blade, no dots of rust anywhere, no decoration in the hilt, no wooden parts, no decoration.
It's what you're already doing with the shape - at first glance, it's a curved blade, but when you look at it a bit more, it has a more complex and interesting shape. It starts straight, there's a nice bend to it, etc. The handle, too, isn't just a cylinder. The texture also needs to be interesting and vary a bit along the object's length.
For example, your blade could have a pattern similar to the current one, but toned down so it's barely noticeable. Then you use an image editing program to layer the tribal pattern on it. That way, the obvious layer of interest is the tribal pattern, and the smaller hidden layer of interest is the pattern in the blade. You notice the tribal right away, and when you look at it a bit longer, you notice the pattern. The hilt could have wood, metal, and decorations in the metal part.
