Spacetronaut!

Stinkhorse

After numerous starts and stops I finally managed to get this guy completely assembled. I learned a lot of tricks as I went, though the one thing I really wanted to pull off (modelled as a single object) eluded me. The body is one piece, but the helmet, helmet eyes, visor, and jet pack are all separate. If anyone has any advice on what I can do to improve him, and I mean anything, please let me know. The character is intended to be viewed from roughly RTS scale and camera angle, so I'm trying to keep the poly limit low. Also sorry about the editor grabs, I haven't even started learning how to render out beauty shots yet.

Spacey

If you're intending him to be viewed from an RTS style camera, I'd set up a camera with the same view and see where you can collapse edges while still retaining the shape. I can see some high-density areas that could use trimming and not have any impact on the visibility, most notably the corner of the mouth and the thruster on the rocket.

And the viewport grabs are fine. No need for fancy renders when you're just showing off a simple mesh with wireframe.

modebloggen

Cute model!
I dont know it's just me though, but I can see some weird faces (a couple of n-gons here and there) that might be an issue if you plan on animating this little dude!

Stinkhorse

@Spacey: Great points, I'll start giving that a shot tonight. The thruster should be easy enough to simplify. I'll probably break it off into it's own object so I have better control over the shape. As for the corners of the mouth do you mean the fish cheeks or the visor itself? I could probably reduce both of them, though it would be easier if the cheek was a separate object. Any advice on which way to go there?

@Modelbloggen: I was pretty careful to avoid any five sided objects, unless I have a misunderstanding of what an n-gon is and you're talking about the triangles in his shoulders and other places. Could you point them out to me so we're on the same page?

modebloggen

Hi Stinkhorse,
you understood me correctly! It might just be the viewport spooking out, but I see at least a couple of them: the "fin" on his helmet, and on the side of his waist. Also one in the center front of his helmet, and I think I see one on the rocket stabilizer as well! Though it might just be a viewport problem; if so you can completely ignore this!

Stinkhorse

Ah yeah those two planes both have polys running through them, I'm not sure why they aren't displaying.

modebloggen

Ah, I see! My bad then=)

Spacey

Stinkhorse wrote: »

@Spacey: Great points, I'll start giving that a shot tonight. The thruster should be easy enough to simplify. I'll probably break it off into it's own object so I have better control over the shape. As for the corners of the mouth do you mean the fish cheeks or the visor itself? I could probably reduce both of them, though it would be easier if the cheek was a separate object. Any advice on which way to go there?

Yup, you got it. When reducing your polygons use your intuition, trial and error, and pay attention to the silhouette. If you're unsure of big changes, make a copy first then try it out. If it works better, great! Delete the old and slap on the new. If it looks wonky you'll still have the original one to fall back on.

As an aside, not necessarily related to anything already said or asked: I think you have a good idea of what needs to be done, you just need to do it! Instead of focusing on creating the most perfect model right now, focus on creating the best model *you* can create and finish it. Experimentation is an amazing learning tool. Once it's done and we see the final vision, people will be able to give you better critiques. Then you can take that advice and everything else you learned while building it to make your next model even better. Rinse, repeat, and you're on your way!

Stinkhorse

@Spacey: That's a great point. I've got a handful of models I've been working on for this project and every time I finish a batch of them I realize ways I could improve on the old ones. I actually started with an unfinished version of this spaceman that I rebuilt and failed to complete a couple of times. I switched over to working on environmental pieces out of frustration, and with the knowledge gained there I had the stones to come back and try finishing this guy. Every iteration teaches me a lot and I don't doubt that I'll be coming back around for another swing at this after a few more props get made.

Viewing the model at the scale I'm aiming for is a great suggestion, and it seems so obvious in hindsight. It's really easy to get caught up in the details when you're zoomed way in and fiddling with individual verts. I'll put that into practice tonight!