The Dragon Express
polycounter lvl 10
Hey guys, for class I am modeling a vehicle. We are given cinematic specs to work with, so 35k tris max and up to 4 2048 materials. I am using the Dragon Express concept by Patrick Ballesteros. Here's his website in case you'd like to check out his other work!
Here's my blockout so far. The perspective view actually matches up quite differently from the orthographic shots, so I took some liberties with proportions here and there. I am also still working out some of the connections, especially closer to the body of the train. Critique and comments welcome!
Here's my blockout so far. The perspective view actually matches up quite differently from the orthographic shots, so I took some liberties with proportions here and there. I am also still working out some of the connections, especially closer to the body of the train. Critique and comments welcome!
Replies
I have got to ask. What are you using to render? Everywhere i am seeing renders that look similar, even with the blue/red lights on either side. Its driving me insane 0_o.
As always,looking forward to your progress!
Yeah, I wouldn't worry about taking liberties. Model sheets where every view actually matches up are few and far between. As long as the overall feeling and likeness are achieved, you're golden.
Looking forward to updates.
-Joe-: Thank you :]:]
Giles - Thanks! Current-gen workflow.
Dvolution - Yesh, I am quite in love with the concept hehe. I'm glad you think I've nailed the overall feeling of the piece!
biofrost - Thank you
Will continue blocking out and post some high poly progress soon.
And the 'chimney' should be slightly higher to aid the design.
The front lion head part, with the large cistern engine should be slightly longer, and the 'middle' ring should be brought up forward slightly.
The back of the chair should be dragged backwards abit more, if you look closely, it almost 'feels' like the Batmobile.
Good luck too
Ace-Angel, njc6425 - Thanks very much for the critique on proportions! I think the changes are working a lot better now.
So here's some more high poly progress. Still need to work on some kind of chassis, things to put in the back (lookin' kinda empty there atm), seat connections, and the dragon head (most likely gonna pop into ZBrush for that). High poly should be finished before the end of the week! Critique and comments welcome:
-some edges could be softer/ nicer bevels. Looks a bit better in your latest shots but those are kinda blurry...
-Watch out with just intersecting meshes in plain view unles they're small details. It's much nicer if your ground them into each other a bit more.
Xoliul - I'll give it a look over and soften up the tighter edges, and find some more reference on how to intersect the bigger shapes better. I appreciate the critique! :]
One thing that bother me : while I understand it's done this way on the concept, how do the back wheels work? O.o I don't really understand all the mechanical connection there.
Nice work so far anyway
If I were to offer up any crits, it would be that perhaps overall the train could be a little "chunkier". It matches the concept quite well but it just seems to be missing that little extra ahhhhh... chunk. hahaha what an explanation but I think you might catch my drift.
haha the silvery material makes me think of Monopoly.
I am really keen to see some more please.
High Poly:
Low Poly:
As you still have a good margin to your 35k tri budget I wouldn't be scare to throw some more poly where the silhouette need it.
KennyTles - It's going to be photo-sourced, or if I do create some of the textures from scratch, I still want this to have a realistic feel, not so much a stylized one.
EzMeow, jeffro - Thanks for the crits guys
So here is the low again with changes:
Here is the model with AO and normal maps applied. Still needs some cleanup and levels tweaking:
Here are my maps; 3 material ID's - one for the metal parts, and 2 smaller maps for the matte materials (wood/cloth). I was going to put the matte materials on one ID, but there was either not enough room, or too much empty space left - what is better? To have an additional material ID, or to have an oversized map with leftover UV space (hope that's not confusing).
Metal ID ( 2048 ):
Matte ID 1 ( 1024 ):
Matte ID 2 ( 512 ):
Critique and comments welcome; thanks in advance :]
Nice clean models and a strong style. As for your question it's usually preferred to have less materials/textures on a model for perfomance as each one will result in a draw call. The more you have the more work the CPU will be required to do.
If you had used two 2048 maps the texture resource in MB would be larger than what you currently have. If all these assets were to go in-game the decision will be down to what you memory you have less of, Vram or CPU.
In this instance a couple of extra maps for a unique asset would not be a bad thing. I do feel the main map has plenty of elements repeated that could have been more efficient allowing for more elements from the other maps to make it on to the 2048 main map.
You could combine the 2nd and 3rd maps to another 2048 and use the extra space for other assets that will likely appear in the same location as the dragon express.
The 3rd map does have a bit of unused UV space. I tend to always pack the UVs tight even if I know I'll never use all the map as you never know when that extra space can be used in the future for a few extra details for another model.
KennyTies - Yes, the face is sculpted. I don't really like it though 8[, so gonna go back and change it after I turn in the final. But thanks!! ahaha
nathdevlin - Thank you so much for the explanation! I see how you mean it depends. For this project I won't be making anything else so it probably would be better not to use one big map. As far as the main map goes, there are some repeating elements because I kept many of the shells unique in order to get unique ao. Since this is supposed to be a cinematic prop, I'm guessing that's ok, but for game is that acceptable, or would it be better to stack identical faces where possible and forgo the unique ao? Also thanks for the tip about packing tightly just in case you might be adding other things :]
Update - first texture pass, renders from UDK. Now to add color/value variation and dirty this thing up:
Critique and comments welcome!
Diffuse:
Spec:
Diffuse:
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Diffuse
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This was bothering me too but now It doesn't matter, I guess.
The only things I'd change or redo/remake is the front head piece (dragon/lion head) It is not very readable.
The white panels that are at the sides of the seating area I think those might be painted wood pieces?
Something like this, probably would be better than solid white.
Good work you should get a top grade from this.
http://cg.tutsplus.com/tutorials/photoshop/how-to-hand-paint-convincing-metal-textures/
$!nz - tbh... not quite sure how they work either haha :x It is a bit strange of a design combining train wheels with carriage wheels haha. I will def work on the head of the train, agree it's not very readable at the moment, and also quite an important element of the design. I believe the white panels are supposed to be cloth actually, but they are looking more like wood right now and I think I will just go with that then - thanks for the reference, that's awesome.
Selaznog, PhoenixWolf, Jar3d - Thanks for the critiques - this pass is just my base, I will still be adding some hand-painted elements such as edge scratches, surface wear, dirt buildup, and gradients :]