model
Tesla Coil Gun
polycounter lvl 8
The following paragraphs contain some reflections on the project, feel free to read them if you wish. If you do not, I want to thank you for checking out my post. Any feedback/critique you could provide would be greatly appreciated!
I started by making a blockout, which quite quickly turned into a highpoly. I would say this was the most enjoyable part of the project, since I didn't really feel the need to care about my restrictions, since I believed a lot of details would transfer well into a lowpoly. There were however critical areas that needed figuring out as early as possible, mainly the wires, and the primary coil (the large, shiny coil that wraps around the copper coil). Therefore I explored these alternatives early on, mainly considering if actual geometry was any sort of option, or if alpha planes were the answer. Unsurprisingly, the latter alternative was by far the best option.
Jumping forward to the UV/baking/texturing section of this project, I figured I had to to reuse a whole lot of texture space in order to maintain the details in the highpoly. This resulted in most of the back part of the gun being mirrored. Some parts, like the plastic box beneath the batteries, is mirrored in both the X and Y axis. The batteries are all using the same texture, and while it does get repetetive, it still gets the job done. The wires, which are, in the reference black on the left side, and red on the right also had to be mirrored. In the end I think it was good that I was forced into that decision, since black wires were almost unnoticable next to the black plastic around it. Red, however, promotes, and shows off the effort that went into making the wires.
The next section is something I would like to do in the end of every project I finish; reflect on three things that went well, and three things that could be improved. My wish is that this could help both me and you by pointing out mistakes I've made, so neither me or you need to make that mistake again. I also hope to promote having a positive mindset towards your own art by forcing myself to do it, as I know it's not an easy thing to do.
Three things that went well:
- The design of the object is really cool, and it translated surprisingly well into the final product.
- The primary coil/wires look very good considering their polycount.
- The creation of the high poly, especially the primary coil.
Three things that could've been done better:
- The textures needs a lot more effort put into them. Their current state works, but just barely. I would say they are the weakest part of the project.
- The black objects supporting the primary coil could use some thickness, instead of just having a good looking profile.
- Never determined how the model would be viewed (3rd or 1st person etc.), which made it hard to figure out what part of the object needed more details.
Thank you for reading! Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!
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