What's the best way to study armor so you can create your own functional designs? Where do you guys get your armor references from?
inb4 Google faggot
Websites of decent armourers often have good images for reference.
http://ageofcraft.com/
Also stuff like this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZrPMaOPrxs
>>2323951
https://youtu.be/R3821wEY-Ls
I feel that A good armor design needs to be relatively simple and based somewhat in reality to look good. I can't stand those bulky ass spiky Skyrim armors that have no functionality whatsoever. Now that's not to say that choosing bulky armor as a style choice is bad, but keep in mind that a human being has to wear it and be able to maneuver in it without being too impeded by it. Pic related, it's the new knight armor from Dark Souls 3. It's relatively simple and somewhat based on reality. It looks like you could wear it and move around just fine, as good armor should allow. Another good example is the Elite Knight set from the first two games. Feel free to disagree, this is just my opinion/preference
>>2323966
Souls games have a ton of completely non-functional armor designs though. I think most of the crazier, Berserk inspired armor designs are much more interesting than the generic medieval stuff.
Obviously it always depends on the context. If you are working on something for a setting that is mostly realistic medieval Europe, then stick to functional armor based on real life counterparts. But if you are working with a fantasy setting, don't be such a boring, uncreative hack that all you do is copy real life.
just use common sense
>>2324030
You know some armorsmith made that custom for his lord, in the hopes that it would impress him. I can see the lords face upon being presented with this.
>lowly armorer approaches my throne
>m-m'lord
>holds out atrocity that he made
>MFW
>>2324032
In all fairness imagine charging into battle and some nigga is wearing this and screaming. Part of battle is psychological after all.
>>2324017
Smough's armor is stylized armor done realistically though, you can tell there was thought put into how it would be worn and used for his specialized role.
>>2324046
You said good armor design needs to be relatively simple and based in reality to look good and you hate bulky, spiky non-functional Skyrim armors. You are wrong. As example I showed you a good armor design from the same game as those armors you praised as realistic, that is completely non-functional, bulky and spiky. Naturally, now you're moving the goalposts instead of just admitting you are wrong.
>>2323951
I remember hearing that the most important part of designing a mech was the joints and how they work, I guess you could apply a similar though process to armor.
Another thing to take into consideration is that silhouette and shape of the armor (both as a whole and the individual pieces)
>>2324037
I don't think that's the problem, I think the problem is it looks like some cheap kid's toy
>>2324051
I'm not the OP
Bulky and spiky doesn't make it non functional for being a ceremonial executioner or a guard, and it clearly has more thought put into its functionality than Skyrim of WOW armor. You should have a look at some real armor for specialized roles.
>>2324053
Its the lighting of the picture that does that
>>2324017
Man hearing someone say 'practicality' about video games is literally my trigger :(
i see so many people when talking about game armour use 'muh practicality' 'muh functionality' and 'muh realism'
I watch alot of youtube videos about historical armor and weapons (lindybeige / skallagrim /scholagladiatora) because it does interest me..but they pretty much all rant about how fantasy weapons are unpractical and armor piercing blablabla warhammers need to be small becuse smaller impact area blahblahblah. Sorry. a giant unrealistic flail with a giant chain will always look more fun to me then a realistic tiny one.
The only thing that matters to me is creating something memorable(which doesn't exclude realism obviously, the assasins creed armors have nothing to extreme going on but are insanely popular).In video games we have the wonderful thing of not having to worry about functionality, or if the joints would work in real life and such.Really all you need to worry about is clipping.
This allows me to create armour that draws from nature or modern fashion or even architecture and i enjoy that freedom it seems strange to me that you have the freedom to create new things with almost total freedom but keep creating what already exists.but shit if thats what you are passionate about then obviously go do that.i can totally see that people think that fantasy armor is just tacky.
What im trying to say is i really like armor with exposed giant boobs.
Consider studying modern examples
>>2324068
You see its not about realism per say, more plausibility. I'm the anon defending smough btw.
This picture you've got here I could only see being used in a Gladiator sporting event, think professional wrestling with fatalities.
And that's me being kind because you mentioned clipping, if I was being harsh I'd explain all about why putting curved plates directly next to exposed flesh is a really bad idea.
I hate most other 'muh realism' fags though because most are the kind of people who defend Game of Thrones' tv armors over the armors in the books without seeing or understanding the irony.
>realism hurr
Woman can't wear plate armour
>>2324078
That's a retarded statement and you know it.
>>2324051
that armor isn't being worn by a human though
>>2324068
It's a matter of expectations, really.
I'm ok with silly fantasy sometimes, when it knows what it's doing and why. It's just went ridiculous shit becomes the norm / it takes itself too seriously that I start to roll my eyes and get sick of it.
When everything is over the top and bizarre, nothing is. To use the already cited example of Dark Souls, I enjoy their choices for that reason. Plenty of armor sets are reasonably down to earth and practical, but there are more fantastical ones too. Regular people use reasonably regular and generally functional armor, and the more fantastical people (like a God-king's executioner IE smough) wear stuff that's a bit more unique and strange.
If your pic was "assassin outfit design v3" it'd be fucking trash, in my opinion. The average person in any setting besides intentionally silly fantasy shouldn't dress that way.
>>2324074
i suppose, its just you'll often be battling fire breathing creatures,mages and poison undead lizardfrogs or whatever so i just don't see the need to take realism or plausibility into consideration. i suppose my tastes are somewhat fringe and a bit too autistically "muh artistic freedom".
I have access to a museum filled with armors, so that's great. I took some pictures last or so year and uploaded them here. I could repost them.
or if you show me how, I could upload a zip pack and maybe put it to the sticky.
but I think it's not really worth it, 100 photos or so and nothing you won't find on the internet.
>>2324089
is that a shield or a weapon in his right arm?
>>2324090
Post pls
>>2324051
I didn't say that the whole game had functional armors, I was just using the basic knight set as an example. I'm well aware that Dark Souls is also filled with overly bulky or just non functional armor, especially the second one, but there was much more care put into the creation than that of Skyrim or some other generic fantasy game.
>>2324051
And also I was talking about how armor should be formed in context with that of a human's natural motion and therefore would have to be at least remotely based in reality. You can call me wrong all you want but it doesn't change the fact that armor is bad if you can't move well in it.
>>2324143
What about purely ceremonial armor?
>>2324146
Well purely ceremonial armor doesn't need to be practical because you don't have to fight in it. You just stand around and do minimal movement in it so there's no reason for it to be.
>>2324151
I also feel like if you spent a ahit load of money on intricate, crazy armor, you're not going to want to risk getting it damaged.
>>2324032
actually that was Henry VIII helmet, he got it From Maximilan I Holy Roman Emperor as a gift. They were BFF.
>>2324053
mostly because nearly all the decoration, paint and other colors either degraded over time or scrubbed off by retards in the museums over the centuries
>>2323951
>What's the best way to study armor so you can create your own functional designs?
look at pics of original ones. Look at original ones IRL. Maybe wear a few repo. Talk about it with actual blackmisths or reenactors.
If you want to go REALLY deep in it you have to study a little warfare too and understand WHY did the armors looked like what they looked like. It's a very complex thing and even back in the day people used a lot o trial and error to figure out the best shapes and forms, although the error part may or may not could cost your life. There were a fuckton of transitional armours when new weapons or tactics come into play and after a few decades the ones that weren't that useful died out. Sometimes because it wasn't that good functionally, sometimes because it was too expensive or too much work to make it; etc.
It's a very complex subject and you have to decide how deep you want to go.
>Where do you guys get your armor references from?
there are a few good sites like armourarchives or myarmoury also you can look up the websites of museums, sometimes they put a lot of good pics online, like in the wallace collection.
There is also an option for a few museums to use google earth and look at their stuff through that, like here
https://www.google.hu/maps/@48.2051532,16.3642472,3a,75y,179.06h,90t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1swdd8rYrPdqyWF1nb4efWQA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Also /tg/ frequently have arms and armour threads, sometimes you can even find people there who know their shit
>>2323959
>dat flexibility on the gauntlet
