You could've done a lot of optimization on the lowpoly without any visible difference. For example the cap of that cylindrical pillow doesn't need to have the button in the middle modeled and it could be almost perfectly flat with maybe one or two edgeloops. There are also a lot of other flat surfaces where you have redundant edgeloops, like on the wooden bottom frame part of it, and also all along the main cushion area. A prop like this should not be over 1500 triangles IMO, unless it's a major focal point.
Right now I'm having issues getting a high quality screen capture in UDK; hopefully I will have that resolved this week and will re-post. Then that will be the end of nasty-looking images.
I have also gone back and optimized the couch. It is now under 1500 tris.
Here is what I have been working on next. I'm still having trouble getting a nice image capture, so these images will be replace with pretty ones once I figure out what I'm doing... (and with nicer lighting).
use some alpha to make some holes in the lamp... so that it fits with the worn sofa. either that, or clean your sofa, like it was said above, it looks like its come straight from fallout, or gears of war (indeed reminds me so much of a sofa seen in the first gears).
aside from style crits, i still think you could lower your tri counts with some smart moves... like using some normals in that button in the couch.
.. why would should they have to match each other? A lamp, which is not sat on or handled other than the switch at best, should not have to match the wear of a sofa, which is sat on and in contact or under pressure every day, unless in some disused drawing room.
That's like saying there should be broken windows on a train because the seats are faded.
Plus its far easier and less expensive to replace a lampshade, or even a whole lamp, than it is a couch.
Really look around your own settings. Is everything aged the same?
.. why would should they have to match each other? A lamp, which is not sat on or handled other than the switch at best, should not have to match the wear of a sofa, which is sat on and in contact or under pressure every day, unless in some disused drawing room.
That's like saying there should be broken windows on a train because the seats are faded.
Plus its far easier and less expensive to replace a lampshade, or even a whole lamp, than it is a couch.
Really look around your own settings. Is everything aged the same?
While you do make a point, there still has to be a good flow of styles, wear and tear, and environment effects. But then again, we are all trained to see details in the models that most viewers will never notice.
@polygonfreak: I agree that an aesthetic unity is a good thing among asset collections. I also feel that these three assets go very well together. It may be helped that I'm looking at the renders via an iPhone, but even zooming in I feel that the aesthetic is held in each piece.
The forms, colors and materials all speak from a similar period and aesthetic choice that is rather Baroque, with some hints of art nouveau.
The couch in particular looks to be worn silk while the lampshade is of a coarser fabric. The part of the couch most needing attention is the bolster at the end of the seat. It could use more edgeloops on the upper surface to give it more fluff and shape. The image with the lamp providing lighting I think shows off the materials well. The muted diffuse on the couch helps.
I feel like this sort of critique, confusing similarity of surface quality for consistent aesthetic is a direct cause of the muted brown on everything look that has been so pervasive in "realistic" quality games lately.
it all depends on the enviro she's gonna fit the meshes in.
if she put these in a waresque environment, the couch will fit, but the lamp wont.
if she put both in a home library, both will fit
again, if she put both in a living room, the lamp will fit but the wear of the sofa wont as much, as im guessing the owner would be more careful about it, fixing/reforming the mobilia.
its all a matter of subjectivity. as you said, the sofa is more likely to wear than the lamp, but if we see them in a, say, middle east setting, the couch may fit cos its worn, but the lamp wont.
everything looks like it's been chizzeled out of wood. none of your curved surfaces are really reading as curved surfaces... your texture work over-uses overlays of photo. and your normal maps seem to be only for the micro details. with the exception of the couch which looks like a hybrid of baking out a normal for the cushion, but saying "fuck it" for the wood frame. I could be completely wrong... that's just what it looks like.
nearly 2000 tris for the globe is a bit much unless the thing is a meter tall... which is not likely.
i'd suggest getting comfortable doing high poly hard surface modeling, and modeling from better reference.
good news is, i've seen worse props in games that have shipped... so don't be discouraged...
Make some dope high poly models if you're going to use normal maps for this stuff.
Your lamp uses an 8 sided cylinder for the entire stand. This is very inefficient and ugly. You should adapt the amount of sides the radius of the part.
I presume you've kept it all as 8-sided to get texture tiling in there? You don't have to - this example also allows for 4x tiling, yet has a much nicer silhouette:
Also, you can reduce your globe from 288 to 180 triangles + get more natural looking shading, just by switching to a geosphere:
Alternatively (since you've already unwrapped it) you could just take out some of the vertices near the poles by hand. Should take you no more than 5 minutes.
Thanks for the advice. I'm definitely need to work on high-poly modelling; its something that my portfolio is lacking at the moment.
How can I get my curved surfaces to read better? Are you referring to the curved edges that seem faceted and more edge loops are required, or something lacking in the textures?
The globe is over a meter high; its one of those massive antique floor globe-stand things. I'll be throwing all the pieces I have so far into a quick, small scene that should give it a better sense of scale.
I will definitely go back and make those changes to the geo! Thanks!
other than what people have already said, i think some more definition on the globe texture would work nicely. having the words at least a bit readable would work fine for the prop i guess
I like it, it's got a good vibe. Though, your shadow looks a bit hand-painted and you have a noticeable halo on your object in that lower region. In-fact... looking back, there's something funky about all of your shadows thus far.
Replies
Right now I'm having issues getting a high quality screen capture in UDK; hopefully I will have that resolved this week and will re-post. Then that will be the end of nasty-looking images.
I have also gone back and optimized the couch. It is now under 1500 tris.
Here is what I have been working on next. I'm still having trouble getting a nice image capture, so these images will be replace with pretty ones once I figure out what I'm doing... (and with nicer lighting).
Lit with Emissive texture channel only:
breakdown:
(not yet mentioned, tri count=530)
aside from style crits, i still think you could lower your tri counts with some smart moves... like using some normals in that button in the couch.
keep it up
That's like saying there should be broken windows on a train because the seats are faded.
Plus its far easier and less expensive to replace a lampshade, or even a whole lamp, than it is a couch.
Really look around your own settings. Is everything aged the same?
Even if your sofa is one of those fabric sofas, I think you could push the contrast in your specular map a little. Maybe even in your diffuse.
Also, the seating looks a little flat. Maybe there could be some pads on there. Or some folds so you could see someone sat on there.
While you do make a point, there still has to be a good flow of styles, wear and tear, and environment effects. But then again, we are all trained to see details in the models that most viewers will never notice.
The forms, colors and materials all speak from a similar period and aesthetic choice that is rather Baroque, with some hints of art nouveau.
The couch in particular looks to be worn silk while the lampshade is of a coarser fabric. The part of the couch most needing attention is the bolster at the end of the seat. It could use more edgeloops on the upper surface to give it more fluff and shape. The image with the lamp providing lighting I think shows off the materials well. The muted diffuse on the couch helps.
I feel like this sort of critique, confusing similarity of surface quality for consistent aesthetic is a direct cause of the muted brown on everything look that has been so pervasive in "realistic" quality games lately.
if she put these in a waresque environment, the couch will fit, but the lamp wont.
if she put both in a home library, both will fit
again, if she put both in a living room, the lamp will fit but the wear of the sofa wont as much, as im guessing the owner would be more careful about it, fixing/reforming the mobilia.
its all a matter of subjectivity. as you said, the sofa is more likely to wear than the lamp, but if we see them in a, say, middle east setting, the couch may fit cos its worn, but the lamp wont.
my two cents...
nearly 2000 tris for the globe is a bit much unless the thing is a meter tall... which is not likely.
i'd suggest getting comfortable doing high poly hard surface modeling, and modeling from better reference.
good news is, i've seen worse props in games that have shipped... so don't be discouraged...
Make some dope high poly models if you're going to use normal maps for this stuff.
That's just my advice.
Cheers
I presume you've kept it all as 8-sided to get texture tiling in there? You don't have to - this example also allows for 4x tiling, yet has a much nicer silhouette:
Also, you can reduce your globe from 288 to 180 triangles + get more natural looking shading, just by switching to a geosphere:
Alternatively (since you've already unwrapped it) you could just take out some of the vertices near the poles by hand. Should take you no more than 5 minutes.
How can I get my curved surfaces to read better? Are you referring to the curved edges that seem faceted and more edge loops are required, or something lacking in the textures?
The globe is over a meter high; its one of those massive antique floor globe-stand things. I'll be throwing all the pieces I have so far into a quick, small scene that should give it a better sense of scale.
I will definitely go back and make those changes to the geo! Thanks!
Cheers