Galactica Turret

Bri

Hi everyone!

New here! Not really done any modelling in the last year, and pretty new to high poly and subd modelling altogether but would appreciate input on what I've got so far.

I'm working on a Battlestar Galactica mod and thought a nice warm up piece would be the Galactica's turrets. Not going for 100% accuracy on this one but would like it pretty close. Still got to detail the cockpit and rear of the main body, as well as some of the 'arms'.




When building the low poly mesh, do most people use retopology tools on their high poly, or build a new mesh from scratch?
Also, what method would you guys use for creating the panels on the main body of this if it was subd - I've been exploring a few different methods but the mesh started to get so dense that I switched to floating geometry.

Any input would be appreciated!

Cheers,
Bri

Bri

Almost finished the high poly:





C&C welcome!

Bri

Finally got around to starting the low poly, sitting at 8600 at the moment, bit more than i was hoping for but not sure what else to reduce. Any c&c would be appreciated!



Cheers,
Bri

Joshua Stubbles

Good job man, looks pretty accurate to the renders I've seen from ZOIC. Will be cool to see it baked down.

jmt

I see a ton of edge loops that don't need to be there if you want to reduce the poly count. A lot of your cylinders seem like they could have less edge loops, particularly the guns (it looks like you modeled in a tiny lip in the barrel), those things on top of the hatch. The cockpit's edge loops are uneven - many more around the edges than the center. The curved edges around the shoulders seem messy and higher than they need to be.

Bri

Thanks for the feedback! The edges creating the lip at the barrel were there to prevent a 90 degree angle, as I've read it's better to bevel a corner than leave it 90 degrees as it will cause smoothing issues in the normal? I'm pretty new to baking high poly geo to low poly, so I'm still learning.

Will address the other issues you highlighted jmt, thanks!

Trying to find a balance between a good model and a low poly count, keeping in mind there will probably be 8 of these on screen at any one time is tricky for a newbie!