Game Asset | T-28 Heavy Tank | University Assignment | Loads of images, warning!
polycounter lvl 10
Hey, just finished making the lowpoly and highpoly of my tank for an "Intro to 3D for Games 1B" assignment at University.
Well, I say finished but I need to reduce the triangle count by at leat 7000. Which the two cranes on the side of the tank come to, I do not know why they are so high but I will work on that.
Once the triangle count is suitible I will unwrap and ATTEMPT to bake the details to a normal map. Below are some renders of the highpoly and then the lowpoly.
I have also modelled the turret, which I have yet to make lowpoly version of.
Lowpoly
Triangle Count: 27, 700
Well, I say finished but I need to reduce the triangle count by at leat 7000. Which the two cranes on the side of the tank come to, I do not know why they are so high but I will work on that.
Once the triangle count is suitible I will unwrap and ATTEMPT to bake the details to a normal map. Below are some renders of the highpoly and then the lowpoly.
I have also modelled the turret, which I have yet to make lowpoly version of.
Lowpoly
Triangle Count: 27, 700
Replies
How long did it take you to model all of this?
its a great high poly model tho.
Thanks, and I have tried to get it lower poly. There are no more polygons I can remove without it looking like crap or having it look like it was made for a Nintendo DS :S
Seriously lol, most objects look bad enough, there are just loads of objects on it and there is no chose but to have it at such high poly counts.
And for current gen games that poly count would be nothing... the Halo:Reach tank had a triangle count of 27,000 triangles. The Crysis tank has 50,000 + triangles. The UT3 tank has 12, 786 Triangles too... so for the size of the tank and the details it has on it I believe that triangle count is average, and my lecturer's agree.
Since this isn't actually going into a game then I wouldn't worry about it.
Keep in mind that a 15k tank is going to be a lot easier to render than a 15k character model because the rigging is so much simpler.
@Lazerus Reborn: The orange area I have recently optimized before I left Uni, basically did what you said I should do.
The "poles" sticking up out of the tank are actually two planes intersecting.
As for the cylinders and other cylindrical areas you have circled I will try and give them less side's but I don't want to go to the extreme and give them 5 sides as that will look really bad. For a medium level LOD then yeah, but not up close.
I could also use a plain where you noted.
To be honest,(not an excuse) just look at Battlefield 3 trailers and the other next-gen games in the works. You don't see a single edge on the models, so I REALLY don't think this triangle count is high or even medium. The use of highpoly counts is becoming common, not so much of a need to reduce it so drastically any more.
I appreciate the crit by the way, just explaining the poly count. :P
For example the suspension wheels should have so many more sides, as you can see the edges and it looks really bad. And the rope on the side has really bad ends where it curves.
I'm pushing it lower still, and i'm not underestimating the power of normals, but taking in mind how they will bake to the lowpoly if not enough triangles are there to create enough pixels to capture the data.
Also the outline of the shapes it easily seen and normal maps can't hide a 5 sided cylinder against an object. It would be seen.
Just rendering some closeup shows now so everyone can see what's going on.
Edit:
Ignore the random artefacts in the renders, I changed a setting somewhere and can't find it.
And then you got stuff like this to
I have looked everywhere and can't find any small chamfers, I don't actually remember making any so should be fine from that.
And thanks, I was thinking about doing something with that part and what you have said will work perfectly. Thanks :P
The purple I can't really do much about without messing up the outline. Although I could loose some edges on the cylinder and the "cage" for the lamps.
Yes it's bad if you want the details to be baked into the normal maps. Ray's are cast in the direction of the normal's from the lowpoly for each pixel on the texture map, then when the ray contacts the highpoly normal for that pixel a color is calculated from the difference in angle.
So of course if it's a 90 degree angle then the ray will just hit a small "chamfer" on the edge of the angle and miss the rest as it is 90 degree's.
I need to just give my 90 degree angles a bit more of an angle tomorrow :P Thanks for reminding me.
Oh lol, just clicked preview and saw the latest posts.
I'd drop the alpha planes and probably go with 3,6,6,9 or 4,6,8,12
Also, on intersecting geo with the main hull, try this:
Thanks for the examples. I will look around areas of my tank to see if I can do that in more places, but I usually do it whilst making it lowpoly.
The 2nd example is interesting though, good technique, I will also try and use that in areas.
Afew more shots of it. Will work more on it tomorrow. Think I know how I can remove about 2000 triangles or so, will try it tomorrow.
Current count: 21, 918
one downside of the technique is that the silhouette will get a bit wobbly, which is most noticable in parralel lines.
Instead of
| | | |
it'll be like
/\/\/\/\/
So I wouldn't advise it on very lowpoly shapes, (say 6 or 4 sides) unless they have quite a slanted shape.
The other thing is that you'll have to sacrifice a few rows of pixels because you have to push down the floater into the main geo. Ideally pushed in exactly halfway, because then all sides are the same side. So it won't work with very tall shapes, but the lowest rings of the machinegun/commander hatches are pretty ... un-tall? and thus pretty cheap.
What i actually meant with that psychotic sketch fucking was that, you have allot nice high details in you lowpoly - cool. BUT, then you have the base of the barrel for example, witch is using less sides then one of you small lamps (is it?) kinda. Dosn't make any sense to me. Try to keep everthing even steven. I'm talking cylinders mainly. No sense in keeping boxes and shit in the same size, dah! (To much Charlie Sheen, sry)
Over all this is fucking sexy, i'll keep an eye on this!
Woot, going to post wires next project I post, they´ll make you all sick :P
... but stop soon. 20k is fine for a tank like this surely?
(character + guns + what not is easy 20k and this tank is massive playable vehicle?).
Make a 10k lower LOD version to appease the hardcore and as a bonus challenge, be interesting to see? But i want to see bakes and i think they need some geo to be there to bake nicely onto still.
LP version could go around 20-21 easily and that would be arealistic count as well.
The hull and chasis r well optimised but attachments and details on the hull could be lower res.
Well, anywyas, its univ proj, this maybe just fine if u haven`t got enought time left to go abck and optimise things
Of course the turret needs to be detailed to an extent too as if it was in first person this would be soon. I would love to have this at a max of 30,000 triangles which would give me enough triangles to make this look more awesome, atm all I see are edges
But then I doubt anyone would agree on that triangle count, although from the research on triangle counts I have done. And current-gen games I have seen, that would be a common triangle count.
Some more renders in a bit so you can see the changes, I'm calling it done now though as I need to work on my other module's which have the hand in date of April 1- 10th. And I have not started them, worried im going to fail them lmao.
Final baked and textured piece for this module is not due in till May I believe. The highpoly is due in friday, most people are still doing that.
:P
Yeah but do the bakes and textures and am sure the eye will not notice edge so much.