First model post.

Brian Reynolds

Greetings folks! While this isn't my first post here (been lurking for years) this is my first model post. I've recently been undergoing a damn-the-torpedos endeavour on learning Maya and 3D modelling in general and this I'm hoping to get some comments and critiques of this so that I can put the knowledge to use on further projects.

What this is is an attempt to build a model that would fit the pre-existing skeletal rigs for Unreal Tournament 2004. While I have experience with 2D animation my focus for the past couple months has been low poly modelling and rigging and I figure once I have some original portfolio models to show then I'll start doing animation work. Basicly this is just an exercise to see how the model holds up in UT2004.

The face count is 1786.

Constructive criticism is MOST appreciated. Thank you!

Red Crane

I think your mesh is very clean and has very little wasted poly's which is def. a great thing for your first model post. I'm also a Maya user for about 2 years now so Cheers! tho one thing i'd like to put out there, not sure if you know, but the polycount for unreal 2k4 is like 3500 so i think you should put alot more details in some things and use up those polys to make your model stand out next to other unreal 2k4 models. i think it looks great at your polycount tho but definition can always help. anyways keep it up Mang!

Brian Reynolds

Thanks for the comment! It looks like I've got the face count bumped up now to the level you describe: it's now 3247 after triangulation. Really the trick at this point is for me to find out how best to build in the articulation accomodation. We'll see, but this isn't going to be the last UT model I try!

Jerome

thats cool, and clean too, what are you modeling in?

Brian Reynolds

Thanks! I've been working in Maya 5.

usagi

that looks realy nice, cool design

i think 1786 faces is a more reasonable number than 3500 since the game counts tris not quads, and im pretty sure youre counting quads (if its like 3ds) so the polycount will be much higher in game.

im looking forward to seeiing this textured

Slash

I love that fish face! It made me laugh. How about a face shot with the mouth wide open?

Brian Reynolds

I hadn't intended the mesh to have an opening mouth since this was an exercise for Unreal Tournament. But since you asked...!



Speaking of texture maps, I need some help figuring out how to get a texture map put together. I have the UVMaps laid out for this in Maya but haven't yet found out how to make a map from it. What I do know is how to export the mesh and UV layout as a .psk file which I can then work with in UPaint and from there export a texture map which I can open in Photoshop, but I'm looking to avoid so many hurdles to jump through. What I'd really like is for a texture map to be generated that shows off the polygonal arrangement on the texture file which I can then paint on top of as an image reference.

Many thanks for any help that can be provided!

Thermidor

do you mean UVW snapshot?

if this is wot you mean its in the uv editor , click polygons , and uv snapshot ... save it as a tiff...

Brian Reynolds

Aha! Thank you!

LeJomphe

Very nice. It has lots of character. I'm looking foreward to seeing it textured.

Slash

Im getting red Xes!

Richard Kain

Wow, I wish my first model had been this solid! Impressive first attempt to say the least. A little optimization could whittle your polycount down by a few hundred. Maybe even as low as 1500, but I wouldn't bother trying to push it below that. I personally prefer UT2K4 models to be a little lighter in the polys, as it isn't unusual to see several of them onscreen at the same time. Very encouraging start.

cep

Read the first line of his post.

Looks good.

Brian Reynolds

Yeah, it's not my *first* model but it's still early enough that I'm paying more attention to getting the bugs out than making a work of art.

Are you saying that 1500 poly count would be a good target to shoot for *after* triangulation?

Jerome

hes cool

Richard Kain

Yes, that's what I'm saying. Just stating the obvious really. (I do that on occasion, just smack me if it starts to bother you) And I don't think you need to worry about the artistic merit of your model. I love the style, and the concept that you are working from. I wouldn't change the style at all. I was just talking about standard mesh optimization. No matter how good any model looks, there are always corners you can cut to cut down on the number of total triangles. Edges that can be turned, sections that don't have to be quite as complex...just basic spot-checking. 1500 is a pretty good target number for a UT2K4 model after all the quads are turned into tris.