Hello everyone, it's Jen from Olde Tinkerer Studio
In this tutorial we will be making a low-poly fantasy rune stone
This will be a two-part video series
In the first part of the series we will be modeling and sculpting the rune stone
In the second part of the series we will be baking the UV maps from the high-poly model to the low-poly model and applying textures
Please note that this tutorial is using Blender 2.81
In Object Mode, go into front-orthographic view
Download the rune stone template I provided (the link is in the description)
Drag the downloaded image into Blender
(If you are having trouble, make sure you have Import Images as Planes checked under Preferences)
Center the downloaded reference image behind the cube
Select the camera and light and move them to a new collection (M)
Select the cube and tab into Edit Mode
Scale the cube along the Y-Axis to the desired thickness
Align the cube to the bottom-right of the reference image
Go into Wireframe Mode
Use the extrude and scale to make the cube look roughly like the reference image
Tab into Object Mode
Deselect the rune stone
Add a cylinder and rotate it around the X-Axis 90 degrees
Align the cylinder so it is intersecting the rune stone (use the reference image as a guide)
Go into Solid Mode
With the cube selected, add a Boolean Modifier
The Operation should be "Difference" and the Object is "Cylinder"
Apply the Boolean Modifier and delete the cylinder
Hide the reference image (Empty)
Under the UV Editing workspace, tab into Edit Mode and select the entire rune stone
Since you used primitives to make the rune stone, we can use the automated UVs
Select the individual UVs and move them so they are not overlapping
Rename the cube "LowPoly"
Save the UV
Under the Modeling workspace, in Object Mode, duplicate the rune stone
Hide the original LowPoly rune stone
Rename the duplicated rune stone "HighPoly"
Under the Sculpting workspace
Under the Shading dropdown choose a Matcap
Under the Remesh option change the Voxel Size to 0.008 (this number will depend upon the capabilities of your computer)
The Voxel Size will determine how dense the mesh will be
The lower the number, the more dense the mesh will be
Click on Remesh
Twirl open the Symmetry section and make sure you only have the Y-Axis selected
Start with the Scrape Brush and scrape the sides of the rune stone
"F" is the shortcut to change the Radius
"Shift F" is the shortcut to change the Strength
After you have the initial scraping done along the edges, turn Symmetry off
Use the Scrape Brush to add more details to the rune stone
You can use the Blob Brush to add dents in the rune stone
Hold down the CTRL key while using the Blob Brush in order to subtract from the mesh
In Front View, use the Mask Brush to "paint" on the actual runes
(If you want to have the same runes on the back, turn on the Y-Axis Symmetry)
If you need to erase part of the mask hold down the CTRL key
When you are done making the runes, invert the mask (CTRL I)
Choose the Move Brush and move the runes back along the Y-Axis
We have now modeled and sculpted our rune stone
In the next tutorial we will be baking the UV maps from the high-poly model to the low-poly model and applying textures