Dagger Project- Unwrap

For this project I used a range of techniques to model a low poly dagger in 3DS MAX, this was my second attempt at modelling an object after my previous project of a table and chairs. I have no prior experience with 3D modelling so this was a new and exciting challenge for me. I was optimistic and excited to lean new skills when starting this project and now having a fully unwrapped and model I am pleased with my progress of learning the basics through making mistakes and solving them through out the process. The images below show a range of steps I took through out my process to create the unwrapped model. I started out with the basic shapes and played around with some tools in order to make it my own, I am planning to texture my dagger like it is made of Jade in order to create a 'Jade dragon' themed dagger. 

After taking the basic steps in making the blade, grip and pommel I wanted to unwrap my mesh so that I could begin texturing. When modelling I added chamfers in order to make some parts more rounded and smooth than other to really bring out the jagged ice like shape of the blade. I then added smoothing groups onto the polys so that hard and soft edges flowed the way I wanted them to. I added some little torus shapes as rings or twine around the grip for aesthetic purposes. 

I dropped this basic ice and stone like texture onto the model before unwrapping it as I wanted to see how the texture would apply to the model.

Here I am beginning to slice down the handle so that I can peel and relax the mesh in the UV editor. I used a combination of the break and relax tools along with welding some edges back together. When unwrapping I noticed that on the handle I had some double edges and verts, I corrected these by welding them together so that my unwrapped mesh would function correctly.

As you can see the checkerboard texture is no longer distorted on the blade and all squares are even in proportion so that when come to make the texture it will lay nicely on the model. I then went on to optimise my UV mesh by snapping and flipping one side of the mesh to the other in order to use less space in the UV plane and therefore this would use less memory and be more optimised for use in a game. I will insert a picture of my final UV below. I tried to use the space in a well thought out way however there is some left over space.

This was my final UV render ready to be painted on in photoshop, I will make a separate post on how I have done this. 

Overall I did find this task challenging as I am completely new to modelling however I think I was able to develop my skills and next time I will know what elements to look out for that could cause problems for me later. I will take care with spotting double edges and verts and sorting out any geometry which is tangled or incorrect. I really enjoyed creating this dagger and have some good ideas for how I will texture it later.