My first 3D job. Advice needed
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Hello guys!
Started with 3D 6 months ago, this is my first 3D job, or to be a more precise testing task for it.
The goal is to create a small house for a mobile game: 1800 tris max, with textures 512x512.
Right now its 1100 tris and still have some free space on maps for some details like nails and so on. The design doesn’t matter, what matters is the quality of textures, UV layout, and topology.
Textures are 512x512 right now, but I think that I did it wrong…is not it better to make them higher resolution and then downscale them? Right now it’s not too late to rebake normal and AO maps.
Will be grateful for any sort of feedback!THANK YOU!
Replies
The roof could use more polys to make it more curved, but dont overdo it. I see you use symmetry but it is very noticeable on the chimney and the front door.
Also, the way the chimney merges into the roof... just no.
1)how big is the house compared to the screen.
2)what kind of art style they are doing for the game?
3)when you are woking officially , are you provided with the design? Or do it on your own?
4)is alpha , normal map allowed?
If in doubt , ask them , it's crucial.
Answering to qestions:
1) I haven't measured it and in task description ther was nothing about it.
2)Work giver gave me refs with 5 different fantasy houses., but they told not to focus on design and concept because what matter is textures and topology.
3) they will provide concept
4)description of requirements:
Polycount: max 1800
Textures: base color, normal map, AO, roughness/metallic.
and there is one more that I don't quiet understand- color I'd map, but isn't it base color texture?
1) Ask them and make sure about it . Because you need it to compromise the uv layout . Say if you loop the bricks for efficiency , your texture gonna have the same light shadow all over the place . There is work around for it using 2 uv map (1 for texture 1 for light map ) and shaders , but it's not gonna matter now.
2)Will it be pbr? Are they using custom shaders ? Are light be painted onto the color map ? Uv layout are also determined by how you gonna texture it . Say if you want to have a position gradient from top to bottom , you can't do it if your uv are looped all over the places .
3) then it's best if you just model it exactly based on the concept provided . If possible and not confidential , show it to us so that we can help you better.
4) Color Id is used to separate object with different shading properties with color . Like roof as red , windows as blue, wood as green etc , all are being assigned with flat distinct color .
Thank you very much again for all those questions, it helps a lot! Tomorrow will ask them about it.
Today made some progress on modeling and adding some details, right now its 1622 tris. Not sure if it is a good idea to push it to 1800 though.
Can you answer me please question that I've asked before? If criteria are to make textures 512x512 isn't it better to make them for example 1024 and then downscale, I mean, I'm new to digital art but if I understand correctly, it is easy to downscale without loosing, but upscaling textures is hard.
@teodar23
fixed door and chimney, thanks for the feedback!!
And here are refs they gave me, again, they told that looking doest matter, what matters is texture quality, UV layout, and topology. I've found almost all models and none of them had texture size 512x512, so it was kinda hard for me to figure out how to make them
Back to your question . You are not wrong about scaling down and stuff , but if possible avoid at all cost , because they wont look the same .
Say you are satisfied with those detail at higher resolution , only to be disappointed when they dont reflect the same quality at lower resolution . Because you would need to squash 4 pixels into one when scaling down , leaving artifacts by sharpening the image to deal with the lost of color information . In short , they just dont look the same .
I would suggest you to think twice about how you want to approach the texture painting , and uv unwrap based on it.
For now I can say that the brick looks muddy and soft . Try sharpen the edges and remove unwanted details.
And I can see some part arent looping properly . Especially the bricks on the well .
Thats all for now , good luck
Man, you are my hero! thanks again!
By the way, do you merge all parts together before exporting to work giver?
To me, the roof tiles are looking a little too even, In your reference the roof tiles are more staggered and haphazard, with more color variation.
I think the scale of the bricks however could be more uniform. Right now the chimney, the trim, and the well all have different scales for the brick. If you scale the bricks up to match the chimney it would help emulate the over-sized detail look the reference has. On that note, the tiles on the well are a little small as well. (No pun Intended)
The color of the Wood, Brick and Tiles might be a little too high contrast.
Also, (if i'ts allowed within the guidelines of the art test) some Ambient Occlusion, color gradients, and hand painted lighting/shadows overlaid on the building as a whole would help match the reference better. I'm pretty sure that's a thing these kinds of games/art styles do, though I'm not sure how. Maybe something to do with an extra UV set.
Good luck, I hope you land the job!
Thanks, James, implemented all your tips!