art test wip (update: with reflection map ?)
polycounter lvl 11
So I am currently working on this art test for a company, and I have to model an ice cream truck. it's got a limit of 8k tri's w/o tires and so I'm working on the modeling stage now.
I just wanted to get some crits and suggestions to make this go very well.
Also, is it always good to get as close to the poly limit as
possible? or does it look bad when you're 2k under or so?
so here's the pic. i appreciate the suggestions and help!
- mike
ice cream truck wip
edit: oh! here's the concept art they sent me for reference.
they said they wanted the shape to be the same, but the graphics could be different.
Concept
I just wanted to get some crits and suggestions to make this go very well.
Also, is it always good to get as close to the poly limit as
possible? or does it look bad when you're 2k under or so?
so here's the pic. i appreciate the suggestions and help!
- mike
ice cream truck wip
edit: oh! here's the concept art they sent me for reference.
they said they wanted the shape to be the same, but the graphics could be different.
Concept
Replies
The doors on the concept are open, and yours is a closed mesh. Is this part of the instructions?
Need an exhaust pipe in the back.
Looking pretty good. Sometimes as long as you are under the limit is all that really matters. If you are too much under you might have missed some details, but if you are really close it might mean you are wasting tris. Really just a guessing game, use your best judgement and get the right shape and keep it under count is all that really matters sometimes.
if you're talking about the ice cream windows, then yea. they said not to do the underside or the interior. so i was thinking about just putting a black texture there, or fake the
inside with a texture. or should i just open that up and just not add any detail?
and yea i totally missed the exhaust pipe.
thanks. i plan on making the ice cream top look better through normal maps, as well as little details like the bolts on the frame and door lining and stuff like that.
thanks sectaurs.
also, i agree i could clean the ice cream up more.
i also have another question. they wanted a repeating texture on the truck, i figure the best part of the truck to do that would be the actual body. would you consider it stupid to put the decals and stuff that are on the truck on a seperate transparent plane that's placed on top of the truck, or would that be considered dumb?
I'm enjoying it greatly so far, and I hope it works out for me. The company sounds like a great place to work, and the location is the best!
-Buddikaman-
as far as textures i have a 6 1024 map budget.
and buddikaman: you think it's too wide? i figured it'd need to be a little wide to be able to walk around in the cab and have the ice cream refrigerators and stuff.
guess i'll feel really lame if i fail it then
Might be a stupid question, but why does the concept say "Jean's Ice Cream" while your model says "Dave's Ice Cream" ?
Also, the placement of the letters does not align to the placement in the concept.
and i see that i need to actually make the letters larger. but i didn't think the rotation of the letters was a big deal. think that matters a lot?
Ice Cream Truck Wip 2
if no one has anymore suggestions or comments for the model, i'm going to start on the uv's and normal maps.
Also i'm guessing those 6 texture maps already include all channels right? So you got 2 diffuse, 2 normal and 2 specular maps or something eh?
Could be completly wrong on everything said above haha Good luck there anyway.
Also, 8000 poly's with no interior and no underside is a lot of polygons for such a relatively simple shape (sounds like madness to me
You can also cut through the model from side to side even though you're not doing an interior. Just cut right through there, and when you texture it make those interior verts flat black, so no interior required, but you can see through the other side of the model like you can int he concept.
There's a lot more I can see actually... but I have to go out. If you can wait a few hours I'll do a sketch over to show some of what I mentioned above, and where some of the other problem areas are.
Hurm, I just noticed my system clock is borked, so I have no idea when you posted - you might have finished texturing by now
3 last questions - Do you have a portfolio? What's your final polycount? Of that count how many poly's are in just the letters around the cone?
John
1 x 1024 Diffuse (Truck)
1 x 1024 Normal (Truck)
1 x 1024 Specular Color (Truck)
1 x 1024 Gloss (Truck)
1 x 512 Diffuse (Cone)
1 x 512 Normal (Cone)
1 x 512 Specular Color (Cone)
1 x 512 Gloss (Cone)
1 x 512 Environment Map (Both)
2 x 512 Environment Mask (Truck / Cone)
That would leave you with an extra 512 to use as you want. This is of course just a suggestion and opinion and not a guideline.
The light blue lines are cuts you might want to make for tiling texture reasons - the one along the top for the "awning" texture, the one near the front for the rivets that are visible in the concept.
Some things not in that image you might want to consider too:
The roof in the concept appears to have a lip that overhangs the body panels while yours rounds straight into the side.
You have no license/numberplates - a cutout for one on the front is clearly visible in the concept.
The sign with the available ices on the side of the truck - you might want to either cut in some poly's to make placing that easier, since you're using tiling textures, or model a board of some kind for it to sit in that stands out from the side.
One other thing - you should probably add additional polys (if you decide to add any) before removing them from the places I've listed as having to many. That way if you add all the details, you know how many poly's you need to strip to hit your budget.
Remember, while they will be looking at your test to see that you used ~8000 polys, they will also be looking at how well those 8000 poly's were used. If you have some areas that don't need them with a lot, and then other areas which do need them with very few (for example the D in th elettering compared to the wheel - which of those should have more poly's defining it's curve? IMO the wheel) then they'll make note of that.
/Edit - in the image where it says "move to avoid z fighting" I mean the mirrors themselves, not the support bar they're on.
the model is for a PSN game actually. Here's my copy/pasted restrictions and budgets
Restrictions and budgets:
 8000 triangles not including the wheels (use your best judgment with them)
 6 x (1024 x 1024) texture budget. Use to create diffuse, normal, and specular maps. Again, dont use a single sheet for your maps. This is a budget; its not to dictate map sizes.
 A reflection map can be used and is not included in the texture budget. Use your discretion.
The wheels, as said above, don't count in the 8k tris. so i wasn't really too concerned about how they looked atm. i was going to detail them up last, but i didn't want them to be too high res.
i forgot about the fender and trim!! i'm glad you guys pointed that out. when i last posted it was right when i got home, so i was very tired, but i see the changes you guys have talked about and will be making those in a few minutes.
I haven't started uving or anything, so any modeling changes can be made now. I'm glad everyone was so helpful!
If you guys have anymore questions, please let me know, I'm about to pick up my wife from work, and then work on the truck again.
Thanks
- Mike
and illusions, your texture breakdown is actually a great idea as well, i think i will use that for a guidline!
That said, there ae places on the model where tiling textures can be used quite effectively. Also, with the wheels taken out of the budget I'd probably add a little more detail to the windshield wipers as Vitor suggested.
From the concept it looks as though the vehicle should be fairly cartoony in nature, something that can be reflected in the way it is textured, but it could equally be a simple rendering of something you're supposed to make look more realistic. That's a judgement call for you to make if your instructions don't make it clear
so i am not sure. i would think i'd try to match that style.
they also said this:
 The condition of the truck isnt pristine, but also isnt a rusty junker. Lets call it well aged.
 The shape of the truck should remain as shown, but the graphics can be modified. Change the name if youd like. We like irreverent humor, but it isnt required. And dont worry about offending us it wont happen.
 We would like to see normal and specular maps where appropriate.
 Maps do not need to exist on a single sheet. In fact, we want to see at least one example of a repeatable texture.
 Ignore the underside of the vehicle and the interior cab. The windows should be opaque with a reflection map.
thanks for everyones help so far. i'm learning a lot of really nice tips about vehicles as well as ways to better think through situations.
ice cream truck wip 3
edit: oh! and as far as the back panel you had suggested harlequin. here's my idea for the truck
they said they enjoyed irreverent humor, so my plan was to make dave "the owner of the truck" a milf hunter of sorts
so the theme and paint job of the ice cream truck, is going to try to attract the single moms more than the kids to get ice cream.
so i have this idea painted in my head. i'll try and draw up a sketch before work so you can check it out.
i know i want to uv the cone and truck seperate, but could i also break the truck down to:
fenders,side view mirrors, trim, the planks
then the body as a repeatable texture
and then for the decals, like the ice cream types and such as a floating plane sitting on top of the truck with transparency?
Hopefully that makes sense.
I drew some sketches for what i want to do with my truck, since "Dave" is sort of a pig, and is on the milf hunt, his truck is themed with erotic ice cream type things. like a rocket pop being held up in front of a womans chest perfectly in the middle, or a woman sucking on a Popsicle, etc etc etc.
hopefully it works out. they said they liked irreverent humor, and i couldn't offend them, so sounds like that'd be something they'd like.
so i see what you're saying about going the extra mile, but i also don't want to go against what their instructions were.
And just for the record, this is like the most "relaxed" art test I've ever seen lol. That is a lot of polys and textures to throw at a vehicle (specifically looks like it's supposed to be more of a prop too, than a drivable). But I guess they just want to see what you can do, rather than give you a bunch of limits.
man now i'll feel bad if i don't do well on the test. everyone says it's so lax.
i'm currently in the uv stages now. so hopefully i'll be fully finished with that by tomorrow.
J
thanks for the tip flewda
man now i'll feel bad if i don't do well on the test. everyone says it's so lax.
i'm currently in the uv stages now. so hopefully i'll be fully finished with that by tomorrow.
[/ QUOTE ]
But thats the thing though, its not lax under certain constraints. This would be right on par with current next-gen racing games (or any sort of game where the vehicle is the main focus for the entirety of the game). For all you know this could be a concept for a vehicle in a game like Crazy Taxi, but with icecream instead. Just churn out an awesome piece.
you appear to have wasted them on fancy details that don't add much to the truck, and will be almost un-noticeable when textured. You would fair better by distributing your massive budget evenly, not weighting certain areas high poly.
If it were my assignment, I would have made crumple zones for deformation, working doors, an interior, bits that can fly off revealing inner workings, merchandise and so on. Imagine cones and tubs of ice cream flying out of the truck on tight corners, the bonnet flapping around after a few shunts, junk on the dash sliding around and even a little guy driving the whole thing. They did it for dreamcast games, so for next gen...
It's safe to bet that they are looking for you to use the budget as creatively as possible too. You don't even have working doors. I don't see this coming out well without less talk and more action
Pull out all the stops! Is this really what you want to see in a game? It's a boring 1 dimensional truck with some high poly wheels.
Yes they said don't worry about the underside and interior, but they didn't actually say don't model them. It would be better to give them a well rounded truck asset, than "dirty" modelling, where corners are cut due to "not worrying" and not limitations.
i am just worried that by doing an interior and such it'll look like i can't follow instructions. it wasn't necessarily a "don't worry" as it was listed in the instructions as "ignore the underside and interior". so I wasn't sure that I should even attempt to do those.
oh and it's not 8000 polys, i have seen that a couple times, so checked my first post to make sure i had said it right, but it's 8000 tris or 4000 polys. so not as much as was thought.
but i do agree i should add some more wear and tear to the truck, i was just going to do it via normal maps and texturing, since they asked for normal maps on the truck as well.
edit: haha, worst typos ever, what I get for posting before coffee
so just to make sure i'm not making myself look stupid (i just got off work
[/ QUOTE ]
I guess, but it's a lot easier to just shoot for 8000 tris.
Whatever app you're using ought to have a way to convert to tris, or check the tris in a polygon counter.
looking great - keep up the good work!
another thing i'm confused about is, they gave me so much texture resources, but they also want me to make at least 1 repeatable texture. i'd assume that'd be the body of the truck, so i'd just create a 256 texture or something to tile over the body of the truck, then create a new map for details, or am i making things overly complicated?