Started on the low poly earlier tonight, this is where I am right now. The purple is the working mesh, while the green is the final mesh. The current count is about 4400, and I'm going to try to shoot for somewhere in the low 6k area. I always feel a bit iffy with trying to get the most optimal topology that I can, so I would really appreciate any feedback!
Highpoly looks really good dude, but you are going to low on your lowpoly. There is no point in putting an arbitrary triangle limit on your self that will ultimately hurt the quality of the asset. Don't be wasteful, but make sure you are matching the shape/silhouette of your highpoly as close as possible.
Those tires and spoilers should be nice and round in your lowpoly because those are the biggest shapes on the bike, and the biggest silhouette contributor. If you really want to cut down triangles then simplify the engine block and parts since they don't ever break the silhouette anywhere.
Thanks for the feedback, Bardler. I really appreciate it. From the other places I have this posted, people seem to agree that I am going too low, so I'll go back and try to make the resolution smarter.
The thing I'm concerned about, though, comes from a lawnmower I did a while ago (here and here). The main issue one of my mentor's had with it was that the polycount was too high. Now, I'm a bit smarter and I can see now where I could have optimized it a bit better, but I was told it should be under 5k when it ended up being 8k. So this is kind of a confusing train of thought. Does anyone have any opinions on this?
Thanks for the feedback, Bardler. I really appreciate it. From the other places I have this posted, people seem to agree that I am going too low, so I'll go back and try to make the resolution smarter.
The thing I'm concerned about, though, comes from a lawnmower I did a while ago (here and here). The main issue one of my mentor's had with it was that the polycount was too high. Now, I'm a bit smarter and I can see now where I could have optimized it a bit better, but I was told it should be under 5k when it ended up being 8k. So this is kind of a confusing train of thought. Does anyone have any opinions on this?
Eh maybe you could cut a 1000-1500 tris off that lawn mower if you really wanted. Again simplifying the engine parts and cutting out triangles where it doesn't break the silhouette. There are not any glaring wasteful areas on the lawn mower, so to me it demonstrates you understand game modeling. If I really wanted to be nit picky, then I would say the inset extrusions on the wheels(both sides), the extra bevels on things in the engine, and some of the small parts could be cut down and simplified.
Alright, so I've gotten a lot further with my low poly. I feel like I'm pretty close to being done and ready to start UVing, but before I do, I'd really like to get another round of critiques on it. I'm sitting at ~13k tris right now (a LOT more than I was expecting lol!)
Unless someone has a better alternative, I've decided to use alpha planes for the spokes on the tires (they have a full transparent shader in the renders). I'll also be using the alpha channel to deal with the gears in the back, as well as the spring under the seat (they're not transparent though.)
I'm also putting this up on sketchfab, so feel free to get up close and nit picky if you want!
Joltya your high poly looks very good but I think you can afford to spend quite some more triangles in the wheels of your low poly so it will bake better. If the purpose of this bike is to shine in your folio, as other users have stated, limiting yourself on triangle budget isn't as usefull as you may think. People that see your low poly topology will already know your understanding for gameready topology even if you go crazy with 50k triangles.
Your lawnmower looks good to me. Very detailed, and well baked.
I also had some arguments with my teacher about triangle counts but at the end it turned out he was stuck in 2006 graphics era so I didn't take his opinion on it too seriously. Polycount users are always on the edge and updated about everything graphics related so I'd trust them over my 3d modeling teacher but that's just me
Thanks for the feedback guys! Got the LP and unwrap done finally. Lemme tell you the unwrap for this was an ordeal! The final count is sitting around 15k including pieces not in the images.
Replies
Those tires and spoilers should be nice and round in your lowpoly because those are the biggest shapes on the bike, and the biggest silhouette contributor. If you really want to cut down triangles then simplify the engine block and parts since they don't ever break the silhouette anywhere.
The thing I'm concerned about, though, comes from a lawnmower I did a while ago (here and here). The main issue one of my mentor's had with it was that the polycount was too high. Now, I'm a bit smarter and I can see now where I could have optimized it a bit better, but I was told it should be under 5k when it ended up being 8k. So this is kind of a confusing train of thought. Does anyone have any opinions on this?
Eh maybe you could cut a 1000-1500 tris off that lawn mower if you really wanted. Again simplifying the engine parts and cutting out triangles where it doesn't break the silhouette. There are not any glaring wasteful areas on the lawn mower, so to me it demonstrates you understand game modeling. If I really wanted to be nit picky, then I would say the inset extrusions on the wheels(both sides), the extra bevels on things in the engine, and some of the small parts could be cut down and simplified.
Unless someone has a better alternative, I've decided to use alpha planes for the spokes on the tires (they have a full transparent shader in the renders). I'll also be using the alpha channel to deal with the gears in the back, as well as the spring under the seat (they're not transparent though.)
I'm also putting this up on sketchfab, so feel free to get up close and nit picky if you want!
[sketchfab]63c7e7d5a768415ab722198b72fa672e[/sketchfab]
The Traub by Joltya on Sketchfab
Your lawnmower looks good to me. Very detailed, and well baked.
I also had some arguments with my teacher about triangle counts but at the end it turned out he was stuck in 2006 graphics era so I didn't take his opinion on it too seriously. Polycount users are always on the edge and updated about everything graphics related so I'd trust them over my 3d modeling teacher but that's just me