the presentation might help. not saying its bad presentation. just that maybe some light and shadow in there might help more of the forms pop. some basic spec on there as well. basically just give it some material definition. being all grey and flat makes for the Mehmobile.
Generally I think it just needs more detail. The engine is looking pretty robust, but the tires are missing tread, the lights on the front should have grills, the sides should be wire mesh, etc. All these should be modeled in since it looks like this is a high poly reference mesh.
Another quick suggestion: increase the diameter of the bars on the roll cage and across the entire vehicle. They're really important to selling the general shape, and right now they're a little too thin. It also throws off the scale of the vehicle. Small correction, but I think it might fix a lot of your problems.
Your model and the vehicle in the reference have very different proportions. I'd say find or make a proper model sheet to correct your model. The biggest differences I can see are the size of the front end (hud/bonnet) in the model it far too big. Also the wheels are too small, the real vehicle is narrower and the tubing is chunkier. anyhoo, keep tweaking, you'll get it in the end.
Look at the differences in these to 2 pictures. put them side by side or over lay them to see what i mean.
Ah I see it now, Thanks for the input guys, I'll post my changes tonight.
As for the grill and smaller details: I am kind of worried about how they will transfer over to a low poly model- I'm a bit concerned about how much things like mesh over headlights will add to the polycount of this thing given I will need to have enough tris to make the more rounded parts look good- the whole cage is made of cylindrical pipes so I'm thinking that could add up quickly.
I think I want to keep it at 14,500 max including a gun mount in the passenger seat.
Also another question- is creating a high poly model always better than using a height map to generate normals? I figured if I use photo source for the tires it would be easier to create a good diffuse and spec map since the normal map would be generated from the same source (obviously im not just going to dump a photo in crazy bump but ill have shapes to go by when making my height map)...
that all depends on the style. i would say a high poly would get you better normals than photosource.
and i think the gun would be cool, but its not a deal breaker. once you get this textured with wear/tear and dirt, it should look fine. maybe bring it into zbrush to ding it up a tad.
you need to add all the lights and the tires. the changes you made have made it a lot nicer. Model the 50 cal and the at 4 rocket launcher at a minimum. It's not like it's that much more work, compared to what you already did.
hi. as the other guy said about proportion and model sheet, one thing that sticks out to me is that there is a definite "line" that follows the side of the metal panels and continues into one of the bars on the exposed cage for the rear seat. it feels like it gives the rear wheel placement and proportion.
Replies
You're gonna either have to add weapons, or exaggerate the shapes of the vehicle, like huge head lights and crazy-sized tires.
Lamberts are ugly materials.
Look at the differences in these to 2 pictures. put them side by side or over lay them to see what i mean.
http://www.toadmanstankpictures.com/chenowth_24.jpg
http://www.polycount.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=9357&d=1363293250
As for the grill and smaller details: I am kind of worried about how they will transfer over to a low poly model- I'm a bit concerned about how much things like mesh over headlights will add to the polycount of this thing given I will need to have enough tris to make the more rounded parts look good- the whole cage is made of cylindrical pipes so I'm thinking that could add up quickly.
I think I want to keep it at 14,500 max including a gun mount in the passenger seat.
Also another question- is creating a high poly model always better than using a height map to generate normals? I figured if I use photo source for the tires it would be easier to create a good diffuse and spec map since the normal map would be generated from the same source (obviously im not just going to dump a photo in crazy bump but ill have shapes to go by when making my height map)...
and i think the gun would be cool, but its not a deal breaker. once you get this textured with wear/tear and dirt, it should look fine. maybe bring it into zbrush to ding it up a tad.