Industrial Fan Model (first turntable animation)

Frootsy Collins

Hello. This is the first piece of my work that I've posted. I'm still somewhat a beginner, but I'm pretty proud of how this turned out. Any constructive criticism is welcome. This was based on a tutorial in "Game Environments and Props" by Micheal McKinley.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSXpHQBO8v4&feature=share"]Industrial Fan 3D Model Turntable Animation - YouTube[/ame]

BARDLER

The music is wayyyyyy to loud, and is clipping nearly ever second which would probably kill a headphone user. It is a well rendered turn table, but I think for props like this static shots with texture breakdowns are your best bet, just my opinion.

DWalker

Your cylinders all seem to have the same number of sides, regardless of their size. Thus, the base and the outer cylinder appear blocky, while the inner part has too many. 20 or 24 sides would probably work well for the outer cylinder, but the base might need as many as 32. The inner cylinder seems to contain a healthy percentage of the polygons, and yet many of those (notably the innermost 'dimple') can be moved from geometry into a normal map. The blades also have too many polygons - the second-to-last line of vertices running from the root to the tip can probably be eliminated, as can several of the ribs. I think that with careful optimization and a normal map, you can improve the quality while reducing the polygon count to well below 2,000.

Even for portfolio pieces, try to imagine how it will appear in a game, and how important it is. Set your camera up as close to the object as you can imagine it in-game. Look for curved surfaces that appear blocky indicating a mesh that is too sparse. Also look for wireframes that appear solid or nearly so - these areas are too dense. Unless you can see a surface in profile, its curvature can probably exist only in the normal map.

This also applies to textures - try rendering the scene in the largest expected resolution with differently sized textures, and use the smallest one with an acceptable quality. Also, while some game engines require square textures with specific dimensions (powers of 2 are most common), others allow more flexibility. Unreal, for instance, allows different heights and widths as long as each is a power of 2. Different textures can often have different sizes; if, for example, most of your detail is in your specular and normal maps, you might be able to reduce the size of the diffuse map without sacrificing quality.

A logical next step would add weathering to the model. Consider how rust would begin in the seams and the screws, and how water flowing from above would cause both rust and grime to streak. Look into how dust would accumulate on the upper surfaces of the blades and concentrate along the leading edge. You can add smudges and scratches to the specular map, or dents and dings to the normal map.


(Not my fan, btw. :P)

You might also consider the turntable itself. If you look at models from other artists, you'll see that the bases often contribute to the model. They might reinforce the style of the piece, representing something significant to the model, or they might be a simple piece of appropriate terrain. At the other extreme, they might make the model the set piece of a tiny diorama. For your model, a simple textured surface would probably make the most sense - a bit of desktop for a small fan, or a concrete slab for an industrial-sized turbine.

Kon Artist

You could cut this down to 10 sec. Have the AO and wire frame happen around the 180 and 360 turn mark. There's really no need to see this spin around 10 x's.

The presentation is good... just kill the music and shorting it up a lot.