ArenaNet Art Internship Competition

DaveSilver

Hey guys and gals.

So I don't post a lot but I am often in awe of how good you all are and was wondering if you all could give me some advice on a piece I am working on. I am attempting to make a model for the Arenanet 2012 Art Internship Program and have just finished the model itself and am getting ready to move onto textures. Before I do though I wanted to post my model here to see if anyone had any good comments or noticed anything I neglected.

The rules for the competition are the model must be less than 3000 polys and you can only have the equivalent of two 1024x1024 texture maps total.

I am currently just under 3000 and have a little more room to play around but I am relatively sure I am ready to move on to texturing and creating my normal map.

This is the concept art I am supposed to work from


...and here are some images of my model...



Anyway, thanks for any help you can provide and I wish you all luck with your current projects.

PatrickL

It looks like a solid start to me. I feel like you may be able to remove a few loops from your mesh in various spots, but I don't guess that's really a big deal since you're still under your limit.

Looking forward to seeing you put some textures on this!

DaveSilver

I'm actually currently riding really close to the limit and will probably be modifying the curved pieces above the doors and windows, the pieces that sit on top of the roof, and the curved pieces on the sides slightly. I think I can give myself around a hundred or so more polys of breathing room to play with by modifying those a bit and will probably try and do so since I still ant to work in the grass effectively and make it look at good as I can.

Fink

lookin geeerd! :P

lymiller

Oh, you're applying too -- right on!

I think it looks great so far. Can't wait to see the beginning of textures.

DaveSilver

Hello again. So I just finished up all of the modeling and started a little bit of UVing, my least favorite part, but I thought I would post the newest images before continuing to show you guys how it's been coming. I ended up getting rid of a bunch of edge loops and decreasing the number of support beams on the underside of the roof. It gave me a whole bunch of breathing room on the poly count which allowed me to put some effort into the grass/plant area. I also put some time into making it look less perfect and more worn down at the behest of a friend. In any case, I am super happy with the current model and will be doing UVing today and tomorrow, maybe Sunday as well depending on how easily I burn out on it.










So I hope you all like but I was also wondering if anyone could answer a quick question. I noticed a bunch of you guys decided to go with a number of smaller maps rather than just the two 1024 maps. I have never really used that method and was wondering what the advantages are. Obviously it allows you to have more map types since it gives you more maps to work from but are there any advantages beyond that which I am simply not understanding or is that the primary reason I would want to do that?

PatrickL

Yep, it's just for the number of sheets you get. If you only use two 1024s, you'll probably end up with either two diffuses and no normals, speculars, ect. Or you'll have one diffuse and one normal. You can always sneak in an extra B&W sheet into the alphas, but those can only serve so much use.

And I'll be honest, I started out doing mine as one 1024 diffuse and one 1024 normal, and about halfway through, I realized I was not going to get the sort of results I wanted. I'm sure someone else taking the test here at PC pulled it off, but it certainly wasn't me! I ended up using one 1024, three 512s, and four 256s.

DaveSilver

Thanks for the info Patrick. I guess I'll just keep working on it and see how things turn out then.

DaveSilver

So i finished my piece on time and here are the final results...











I like the final product but I had a lot of trouble with the grass and I think it could be much better. On top of that I also feel like my final piece, while good, is probably not the style they are looking for as it is somewhat cartoonish and more saturated than most of what was made by everyone else. That could potentially help it stand out but I think it will hurt more than it will help.

The other thing is I just realized that my submission only contained one render of my project and did not contain my saved texture breakdown so even if they like my piece they probably won't accept it. I am currently debating whether I should send in an e-mail with just my renders or not. I want to, but at the same time I feel as if they may disqualify me simply for attempting to submit more at this point. On the other hand though, they will probably disqualify me if they do not have my other renders and thus I am potentially screwed in either situation.

I will probably submit in the end but even if I don't, or even if they disqualify me because I do, I'm really happy with my results and I learned so much that I don't think I could call this project a failure on any level.

GOBEE

Don't get down on yourself. This may not fit in the Guild Wars universe, but this would certainly look great in other games. ie iOS, Android mobile type games.

There are many of us who sent our work in that won't hear back but you're right, it doesn't matter. It was a fun learning experience and we're all better off for at least attempting this. You did good man. Your next art test will be even better.

It might be too late to submit anything else but if you have something you think will increase your chances, hold nothing back. Send it in or else you'll be left wondering, what if?

DaveSilver

Yea GOBEE I agree. I sent it in almost immediately after writing up my post. I think by putting into words it forced me to really consider both sides and made me want to do it.Thanks fgor the kind words and good luck.