Art test fail / Tree Chest prop
Hey all
I recently got to do an art test for NetDevil (a local game company I have been trying to get a job at for years) and unfortunatly I failed the test. So in an effort to improve the model and possibly resubmit it, for the hell of it, I would like to get as much feedback on it as possible.
The requirements for the test
Make a game efficient prop that;
Matches the style guide and concept
512x512 map(s)
No poly limit
Modeled, UV'd, lit,rendered
5 days to do it, submit a jpg and max file.
It was all done in max9, 4100 polys total. The tree and chest have a bump, spec and diffuse map, while the lock has a spec and diffuse.
I submitted a max file, 3 .psd files, a .tga file and the jpg of the render (which is the front view below)
I would have liked to do a normal map but didnt think I would have time for it so I tried to keep it lower poly. I did do an AO pass and baked that in to the diffuse. All the textures are hand painted in PS with my tablet.
That being said I would like to get as much feedback on the model as I can please.
Clay and Mesh
4100 polys total
The front and back of final prop
Th concept and style guide
Any and all C&C would be helpful, thanks
I recently got to do an art test for NetDevil (a local game company I have been trying to get a job at for years) and unfortunatly I failed the test. So in an effort to improve the model and possibly resubmit it, for the hell of it, I would like to get as much feedback on it as possible.
The requirements for the test
Make a game efficient prop that;
Matches the style guide and concept
512x512 map(s)
No poly limit
Modeled, UV'd, lit,rendered
5 days to do it, submit a jpg and max file.
It was all done in max9, 4100 polys total. The tree and chest have a bump, spec and diffuse map, while the lock has a spec and diffuse.
I submitted a max file, 3 .psd files, a .tga file and the jpg of the render (which is the front view below)
I would have liked to do a normal map but didnt think I would have time for it so I tried to keep it lower poly. I did do an AO pass and baked that in to the diffuse. All the textures are hand painted in PS with my tablet.
That being said I would like to get as much feedback on the model as I can please.
Clay and Mesh
4100 polys total
The front and back of final prop
Th concept and style guide
Any and all C&C would be helpful, thanks
Replies
Second thing is there are no highlights or shadows etc on your lock and chest. They look very flat to me.
Third the tree texture looks a bit blobby and doesnt read as bark to me.
I would go back and try define some of the materials a bit more.
I will try the textures again then. Painting textures is certainly not my strongest suit but it certainly worth it to improve. Anyone know any tricks to paint bark better?
also purely form an asehetic point, the concep clearly shows twists and gnarls in the wood, and your model, and concept push more of a lump of wood rather that twists.
Good luck on the art test- ND might not have the best projects to work on, but its a cool environment with cool people-
and i don't think you have. First off you've lost some of the specific details in the tree - the curls on the hanging bits, the fat twists of the "wood". And then you've headed down a more realistic approach than the style guide suggests, probably trying too hard to suggest detailed bark ... cos bark is what trees have, right? In the same way dancing mushrooms don't have horns?
If you were to redo it i'd suggest spending more of the unlimited polys in really pushing the fat shape of the sketch, modelling in lots of those twists and gnarls with harder more defined edges. It's a lego concept, think of it like hard moulded plastic rather than clay.
And then you might want to consider going a lot simpler texture with bolder cartoonish and probably outlandish colour ...hey, but trees are brown, right? And mushrooms don't look like blancmange. Bah. Thinking back over lego concepts, the muddier end of red/purple sticks in my mind for old wood
Also, a touch more hard spec across your modelled shapes would help push the plasticcy feel, but vary it between the tree and the chest, where you'd be wanting to push the more metallic elements and give it a sharp contrast . I'm guessing if they want a lit render they want to see that you can grasp different surfaces under lighting while still keeping it true to style
oh but less fleshy obviously. Hey i said it was quick ..,
As far as poly count goes, agree that even though there was no limit that they certainly were not looking for me to go crazy with it. I honestly havent done very many props, so I wasn't sure how many polys would make it a "game efficient model". That more then anything is what stood out to me in the requirements. I will try and work in a lower poly count and try to cut it in half.
For the chest and tree colors, I tried to base that off of some press release concepts for the game that I found. Thus why I tried to go with a more real looking wood and to contrast it with the lego'ish chest.
They were the only two concepts I could find that had trees in it.
I agree with everyone else that your tree does seem off, a little too lump-of-clay looking such that it doesn't read like twisty bark, but the chest itself is a problem too. If you're modeling an element from real life, you should probably investigate that real life element, and... well, happens that lego chests are always gold-colored