M61 Nohab

Groven

I created a lowpoly version of this train in my freetime.
I wanted to capture as many detail as I could, thus the final triangle count is around 98k.
It has 2 maps (one for the body - 2048*1024, one for the wheels 1024x1024). I did not use any photos in the textures (diffuse, normal, specular, glossiness).
Render was made in Marmoset Toolbag.
I hope you like it.
Comments and critics are welcomed.

fab-camp

looks really nice. I like the dirt and rust everywhere. also the amount of detail.
But maybe if you are already up for 100k tris to add a lot of the detail in, you might think about also modelling the interior of the cab. because with these dull windows in the front the scale looks quite off- more like a miniture-train then a real one.
also the red painting could use some more specularity?

Kimono

Agreed, specular in general feels very bland right now. Whether this is down to the lighting setup or texturing is very difficult to say without seeing the textures themselves. I am also having trouble seeing how this has reached 98,000 triangles? You have a roughly 10 sided extrusion in the front of the chassis, on an object of this scale I would never expect to see a cylindrical shape with less than 3 times that amount at almost 100,000 triangles. Are you sure that is correct and there is no piece of the high poly getting counted aswell?

fab-camp

Like Kimono, I also got problems seeing where these tris come from.
I just looked another time closer on your lowpoly-wireframe. there seem to be a lot of small details going in the area of your wheels. would you mind post some close-up shoots? I would like to see your baking there.

Shrike

The model looks nice but it dosnt look right yet with texture. Try baking in a light into your diffuse which is coming from an array over it, so you get a lighter texture gradually from top to the bottom, this makes a big difference and gives your form more definition, especially on the round parts, like the lamps on front and the nose which
are clearly a key element optically. The bottom part is really hard to read. I would tone back the grey of the wheel-holders to a slightly lighter grey. Then get a lot lighter metal for the wheels themselves. They are constantly grinding on metal, and they should be looking like brushed metal, bright and clean. They cannot gather dust, they may have oil on them, but that dosnt matter, because you would want the wheels to be lighter to give a second point of interest. (same with the tracks, they are reflective, not just flat grey)

http://northamptonmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/AA-Amtrak-Train-Wheels-6-2B-026.jpg

Also your lighting is really dull. Try a setup with more lights and colored lights. And grey to black gradients are not nice in 99% of the cases.

Groven

Thanks, guys for your comments. It proves me that I created something worth to talk about.

I attached picture about the wheels. I modelled the whole wheel-system (to practice), but on the picture - I've attached previously - you can see only a part of it, because of the body.

I checked the model again, and there are no highpoly models in it. But because of the whole wheel-sytem and the other details on the body (cables, hook, horn, ventilators on the top, etc) it reached 98k at the end.

Based on Shrike's suggestions I tweaked the light rig and the a textures a bit.

VeeJayZee

Awsome texturing! What I can advice is try to get rid of the superfluous details like the tiny cables etc...the ventilators on top can easily be a flat panel with normals. The small cylinders can easily be a 6-8 sided cylinder and get rid of the bevels. You can also simplify those things connected by the bolts Try to simplify down to the very basic silhouette and hopefully this will optimize your models without sacrificing those kick-ass details

Shrike

Why would everything be simplified ? Stripping stuff down like that is a cheaty way of faking stuff, not a method to do everything. Its not like geometry baked on planes looks any good.
The vents are a interesting detail and add a lot to the shape.

Cars in Forza 3 go with 50k Tris, if we take a train which is 10 times the size in a hypothetic train game which is First Person and lets you observe it like in a garage, then the polycount is totally fine if its there to achieve a shape coming close to a realistic counterpart. Next gen will sure go with 100k Cars. If all parts are intended to be there and be presentable, which Groven clearly intended, then the count is justified. It dosnt look like he overdid anything really. Its not a prop in a scene, its the representation of an single object.


The texture tweaks improved it a lot imo, its really nice and presentable now.
The background is still odd tho, Grey is not so nice.
As suggestion, try a linear gradient from RGB 0/12/14 Bottom , to RGB 6/38/50 Highest Point, it will play nicely as complementary contrast and set it nice in scene

Groven

That's right, Shrike. That was my intention.
Oh..the background...I forgot that.

VeeJayZee

Well if that's the case

Groven

I changed the background.
If it is ok, I think I finished this piece and start thinking on the new one.:)