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Keening by Exiler

Submitted by Exiler on

Hi,

I Just want to say before I get to the weapon that I am a self taught 17 year old 3D modeler. I have only 2 years experience, firstly on and off but last year I started taking this seriously. Don't expect an insane model, before you say anything I am just trying to help the mod to develop into a fully functional product that will amaze TES fans for years :D

Software I use:

  • Autodesk 3DS Max 2014
  • Adobe Photoshop CS6 Extended
  • Marmoset Toolbag

Keening

I Firstly want to tell you the lore about the keening just incase you don't know what it is, Which I highly doubt that but I'd rather include it, just for that 1% ;)

Keening is a legendary Short Blade crafted by the Dwemer Tonal Architect Lord Kagrenac. Together with Sunder and Wraithguard, These tools are Necessary to handle the Heart of Lorkhan. All three artifacts came into the possession of the Almsivi Following the Battle of Red Mountain. Keening, Sunder Along with, was subsequently lost during an annual pilgrimage to the Heart, sometime in the Third Age.
The blade is located in the citadel of Odrosal, southeast of Dagoth Ur's Citadel in the center of the island.
Keening is Obtained During the end of the Main Quest and is required to finish it. Though available at any time, it can not be equipped due to the 'mortal wound' ability. Once You have Wraithguard equipped, Keening May be used. See the Keening Artifact Quest for more information.
 
Source: http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Keening
 
Keening in Skyrim: 
 
 
My Model
At this point in time I am just looking to define the basic shape and then i will start adding in extra detail onto this beautiful Short Blade. I have only managed to create the hilt so far and I will try to finish it soon depending on how much time I have. Hate college so much right now, so i'm sorry.
 
Here is my model so far from only an hours work:
 
 
 
Lowpoly
 
Hightpoly
 
As you can see my lowpoly needs cleaning up a little but ill get the overall shape before hand.
 
Thanks for taking your time to read my thread,
 
Exiler
 
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Last edited by Exiler on 12 Jan 2014 - 16:43.

If you are going to remake Keening, make sure you don't just copy the existing Skyrimuit is already there and usable by us. Instead, see if you can modify the design (within reason) and include some elements of your own imagination. For example, the current Skyrim model looks very crude for something that is supposed to be crafted by the master enchanter and craftsman of the Dwemer. I would love to see a more steampunk-ish version of it, with wires and mini steam engines and stuff. Now, I'm not saying that it is the design direction you should be going for, but I hope you got the general thought.

And more importantly, have fun with the model :)

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Hey that's a good start and great way of learning new stuff :)

I definately agree with jk - there is no need for the copy of a model that we can already use, so the best idea would be to create something that looks more morrowindish. Now i know that keening looks almost exactly the same in morrowind, but we can add some details that would make a connection between keening and dwemer weapons etc.

I understand that the mesh you are creating will be cleaned up, but i can already tell you that you use WAAAAAAY to many polies for a lowpoly model. Even if you want to spend "max amount" for a dagger-like model - this is just too much and you won't be able to see many of these edges. And it might be only my opinion - but i would say that its better to add polies in the process then remove then* - especially when you have so many of them :)

* Well there are ofcourse situations when its not that easy and - while modeling - you often do stuff both ways, but in general i think its good to use as little polies as needed and then add more when you can afford it - this way you keep the mesh clean and neat ;) But as i wrote - this is my opinion so maybe someone else would like to write a word or two in that matter.

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good luck since there aren't any proper retextures on nexus yet :)

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I'd say that the best way to edit Keening at the moment may be to update the textures for now. Then again, this artifact is part of the main quest and could probably be given a little more love than it was in Skyrim. Considering how ornate Wraithguard is, maybe it would be nice if the other Kagnerac tools followed the same concept and were engraved with a bunch of runes to really display their ability to tap into the heart of Lorkhan. I for one think the blunt of the work will be on textures rather than the model. 

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Thanks for the feedback guys. I'll come up with some ideas to make it seem more master crafted :D

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Ye ill have to remake the whole low poly, just realized that it needs to be around 2k. Im used to arma engine with 10k polygons XD

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