decidedf to make my own thread for a change - based on a Yaris, going more for nice shapes rather than total techincal accuracy I seem to have moved away form doing characters these days, kind of lost interest with the process overall. aiming for around 30,000 tris for each model , though some of the previous models go up to around 100,000 as they have interiors and undercarriage
getting around the problem with adding panels to low poly meshes using edge split, soldify and bevel. So of course this technique is non destructive. lots of tutorials on this on You Tube
idk about the carbon fiber on green, especially it not being "black+" i recently saw a jeep with some design on the sides if you wanted to add something (those guys i watched before they got rich, they okay if you needed something to watch) review this and see if it fits better.
@iam717 They actualy look quite cool., thanks - not too over the top. was going to add some decals at some point, not just leave it boring green ( actually I was ) I thnk the carbon fibre distracted me a little, so i could mess around making the uv's spot on
If you don't mind me asking - I'm just curious about the workflow, creating these low poly cars especially rounded edges and curved shapes like wheels, light wells or generally other non curvature surfacing/topology whilst also at the same time not incurring usual edge faceting....?
I mean how do you resolve that particular issue, without relying upon a conventional subdivision/turbosmooth modeling technique, in order too smooth the primary mesh geometry?
@sacboi so its a bit tricky at times, but in involved using weighted normals modifier in blender. Also you can use face normal strength, so where there is a bevel, get rid of the hard edges and set the bevel face strength to weak, the bigger faces to strong. I will dig out the tutorial on you tube, but its a pretty cool tecnnique At the end there are still a few areas where there the low poly facets are visible , so I add an edit normals modifer, but only assign it to the dodgy bits or maybe assign it overall at low strength. not perfect but pretty close
To do panel detailing, I use a an edge split modifier, then solidify , then bevel. II use vertex groups to keep the poly count down
again there are a few tutorials on this technique on you tube, will dig them out too This is done a similar way, by some guy on Blender artists forum. he used mainly booleans
forgot to mention that the bevel modifier has a tick box called 'harden normals' in the shading section but it does not always work as planned generally ok though
Wow thank you very much Mike, really appreciate your insight plus YT info which I'll definitely look into : )
I'm revisiting the Kingtiger tank project linked in my sig, after many a year decaying through obvious inattention....nay to be blunt unadulterated laziness hence the query for an alternate modeling method that may at long last finalise it as close as possible to the original premise, I'd jotted down all those years ago so likely many more months of self-inflicted penance left to endure, until I can exclaim DONE! : #
Hey, no probs.It just dawned on me over the last few months that people were using these kind of techniques more and more. It's kind fo fun to be doing low poly modelling again, even had to do some edge turning I started my first car in 2002 and because I could n't make it look good I gave up on it. I am starting to wish I had carried on, but I just find sub d waay too time consuming/ annoying to control, so this methodology suits me fine.
I think the king tiger project already looks really good, but I also think its ideal to try with this method. check out this guy, quite techy but has some good videos - Josh Gambrell, has a bunch of tutorials https://youtu.be/7SIdytU0FX0
peronally I am already bored with booleans a bit , so i used the other method for creating panels https://youtu.be/klyorcEmIUM
works really well most of the time - if only Blender had an edit poly modifier it would be totally non destructive
"this is the car I started in 2002, topology is a bit off though"
Well imo she still holds up for a 22yo mesh, especially those shut lines (panel gaps) really nice and Blender's rasterizer did a solid job overall, kind of stylized realism.
yeaj its weird that eevee reflections look much better than cycles for some reason, they have more 'pop' Cycles is cool , but the GI and reflections are always too dark unless you kind of fake it
so i figured out a similar method where i used the weighted normal techiniques, but combine it with subd level 1. works quite well and is slightly less time consuming than trying to make the low poly look smooth.
I will post some WIP on that when get time, but its a promising workflow (for me anyway)
"so i figured out a similar method where i used the weighted normal techiniques, but combine it with subd level 1..."
Yeah, did notice a difference using one of the WN methods you'd shared upthread, and since I'm going for close camera angle - distance in my King Tiger scene, without any intention to export out into a third party engine, as well.
So pretty much everything will be geometry whilst at the same time just managing to keep within a pre-defined poly count.
It's just a shame that there is no edit poly modifier in blender as you could do the panelling on the subd without collapsing the modifier
stack.
these cars are all mainly for mid distance viewing, so not going for the high fidelity style this time, but I am going to do a proper sub d car at some point, once I figure out the best workflow.
I am pretty much happy with my workflow for the low poly now, still loathe to only use hard edges in places, but from a distance it doesn't make a difference on some parts I think someone was critical that I had modelled some bits where I should have used textures, but generally I do not even do that, I use procedural materials for the glass on lights etc with some modelling for the overall shapes. they will get baked in at some point
@sacboi - just wondering when you do subd do you try and make the polys mainly square so you don't get too many flow lines which are kind of superfluous ?
like here I have a lot of rectangles flowing from front to back, should i try and square them all up, so there is consistency in the mesh ?
(I did this back in 2000, so had to deconstruct the tris and rebuild it. It will be less untidy soon)
Replies
total techincal accuracy
I seem to have moved away form doing characters these days, kind of lost interest with the process overall.
aiming for around 30,000 tris for each model , though some of the previous models go up to around 100,000 as they have interiors and undercarriage
will probably just take off these undercarriage bit, apart from the parts you can see in a normal 3/4 view
i actually got around to rigging this, using the rigacar addon
of course this technique is non destructive. lots of tutorials on this on You Tube
What kind of shader/lightiing are you using. Looks super, almost like attractive marker rendering.
so since I gave the jeep a carbon fibre wrap, I had to really tighten up the uv's, texel density etc. some of them face the wrong way
I thnk the carbon fibre distracted me a little, so i could mess around making the uv's spot on
At the end there are still a few areas where there the low poly facets are visible , so I add an edit normals modifer, but only assign it to the dodgy bits or maybe assign it overall at low strength. not perfect but pretty close
generally ok though
and the bevels only have 1 level
It's kind fo fun to be doing low poly modelling again, even had to do some edge turning
I started my first car in 2002 and because I could n't make it look good I gave up on it.
I am starting to wish I had carried on, but I just find sub d waay too time consuming/ annoying to control,
so this methodology suits me fine.
I think the king tiger project already looks really good, but I also think its ideal to try with this method.
check out this guy, quite techy but has some good videos - Josh Gambrell, has a bunch of tutorials
peronally I am already bored with booleans a bit
works really well most of the time - if only Blender had an edit poly modifier it would be totally non destructive
Cycles is cool , but the GI and reflections are always too dark unless you kind of fake it
messing with HDRIS in Blender 4.0
going to do a proper sub d car at some point, once I figure out the best workflow.
make a difference on some parts
I think someone was critical that I had modelled some bits where I should have used textures, but generally I do not even do that, I use procedural
materials for the glass on lights etc with some modelling for the overall shapes. they will get baked in at some point