Those are nice, cartoon-style (Monkey Island comes to mind) Palm trees, but I'm curious what they're intended for? If they are for a game, then there are a couple ways you could reduce the poly count. But first-- I think you mis-counted the number of polys-- are you sure you meant triangles? Because looking at the bases, it would appear that you have a ton of polys in the tree trunks alone.
When we talk about polycounts, we normally (most always) are referring to the number of triangles. Sure, a quad is a polygon too, but game (and rendering) engines break down all polygons to the most basic polygon, a triangle.
That being said, again you have a ton of polys in the trunks-- you could easliy make those trees 6 to 8 edges around (10 tops, but for a low poly prop, that's pushing it, IMO).
Another place you could cut down on tris is in the leaves-- cut out that line of edges that runs down the middle of each leaf-- right now that row of edges isn't really doing anything. In low poly, make every edge count towards the shape. If you look at the silhouette and an edge or set of edges doesn't affect the shape, get rid of 'em. I think you are using Maya, so I'll say that if you press 7, the viewport will turn all lights off, and your model will appear completely black and void of any shadows-- that's a good way to check your silhouette. Press 6 again to switch back to Texture view.
Hope that wwas helpful. I tend to be long-winded...
nice tree. i agree with WipEout. Lower polycount in the trunk, I had problems with that as well on my tree. Leaves are looking good. As for the trunk texture, I'm sure it is still very WIP, but some more darks around the rings would help make it pop. Here is a link that helped me a lot on my first tree, it doesn't apply directly to a palm tree, but still can get some great tips from it.
Funnily enough I made a palm tree the other day as placeholder mesh, but now it seems to have made it in the game
A few crits, optimize the trunk! For a game res model, the tree trunk is definitely too dense. I'd suggest a 7-sided cylinder. General rule of thumb is to use an odd number of sides (5, 7, 9, 11, so forth), because it gives the illusion of the mesh being rounder.
As for the texture, the trunk seems to be lacking a little in comparison to the leaves. Maybe a bit more detailing with shadows and highlights (without going over the top) could really give it a bit more depth and make the model a more appealing.
Seeing as you alpha planed the leaves, maybe alpha out some slits into the sides of the leaves. You have painted in some dark green slits into the texture already, so maybe just alpha out those areas.
Welcome to the forums and hope to see more posts from you.
Replies
Those are nice, cartoon-style (Monkey Island comes to mind) Palm trees, but I'm curious what they're intended for? If they are for a game, then there are a couple ways you could reduce the poly count. But first-- I think you mis-counted the number of polys-- are you sure you meant triangles? Because looking at the bases, it would appear that you have a ton of polys in the tree trunks alone.
When we talk about polycounts, we normally (most always) are referring to the number of triangles. Sure, a quad is a polygon too, but game (and rendering) engines break down all polygons to the most basic polygon, a triangle.
That being said, again you have a ton of polys in the trunks-- you could easliy make those trees 6 to 8 edges around (10 tops, but for a low poly prop, that's pushing it, IMO).
Another place you could cut down on tris is in the leaves-- cut out that line of edges that runs down the middle of each leaf-- right now that row of edges isn't really doing anything. In low poly, make every edge count towards the shape. If you look at the silhouette and an edge or set of edges doesn't affect the shape, get rid of 'em. I think you are using Maya, so I'll say that if you press 7, the viewport will turn all lights off, and your model will appear completely black and void of any shadows-- that's a good way to check your silhouette. Press 6 again to switch back to Texture view.
Hope that wwas helpful. I tend to be long-winded...
real time tree tutorial
A few crits, optimize the trunk! For a game res model, the tree trunk is definitely too dense. I'd suggest a 7-sided cylinder. General rule of thumb is to use an odd number of sides (5, 7, 9, 11, so forth), because it gives the illusion of the mesh being rounder.
As for the texture, the trunk seems to be lacking a little in comparison to the leaves. Maybe a bit more detailing with shadows and highlights (without going over the top) could really give it a bit more depth and make the model a more appealing.
Seeing as you alpha planed the leaves, maybe alpha out some slits into the sides of the leaves. You have painted in some dark green slits into the texture already, so maybe just alpha out those areas.
Welcome to the forums and hope to see more posts from you.
-caseyjones