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mausoleum

Hi-

This is the high-poly version of a model I'm working on. I think it might almost be done, although I'm not sure. I like the renders, but I think they could be improved. If you have any suggestions, let me know.

Thanks!

mausoleum005.jpg
mausoleum006.jpg
mausoleum007.jpg

Replies

  • torontoanimator
    gorgeous! though id love to see it textured, still, top notch work
  • DarthNater
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    DarthNater polycounter lvl 10
    Looks good. Theres too much negative space though. Look at the big areas you don't have details like above the door, and around the whole door frame in general. You have a lot of good small and large details, add some 'medium' detail to the whole piece next.
  • kylix3d
    I tried improving the rendering quality and I added bricks to the walls.

    mausoleum008.jpg
    mausoleum009.jpg
    mausoleum010.jpg
  • Mark Dygert
    I like it, nice work!

    Base it on anything or just free-styling?
  • Mistry10
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    Mistry10 polycounter lvl 8
    Good start, are you planning on blowup any of the walls or columns ?
  • roosterMAP
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    roosterMAP polycounter lvl 14
    very impressive doorway! need work on the brick wall. bring it into Zbrush and chip away at it. good luck!
  • kylix3d
    Hello again-

    I just spent quite a bit of time rendering some more. I've decided that I'm going with ambient occlusion renders. I know there are multiple ways of presenting work, AO renders are the simplest and most effective for me presently. I also added some detail to the two rectangular columns near the entry way. I'm still incorporating some other suggestions as well.

    I think these may be a little overblown. I'm experimenting with the number of final gather rays being used.

    mausoleum011.jpg
    mausoleum012.jpg
    mausoleum013.jpg
    mausoleum014.jpg
  • DarthNater
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    DarthNater polycounter lvl 10
    Nice work on the details man. Please put something above the door, that's the only spot that is bugging me :) My eye goes right for it because of all the detail everywhere else, it feels like it doesn't 'fit'.
  • psychoticprankster
    roosterMAP wrote: »
    very impressive doorway! need work on the brick wall. bring it into Zbrush and chip away at it. good luck!
    And you told me I don't need Z brush! :p
  • kylix3d
    Hey-

    Here are the latest images:

    mausoleum015.jpg
    mausoleum016.jpg

    Unless there are any glaring issues, I think I'm going to stop adding to this high res model, do some optimization (finding a turbo-smooth type function in maya), and then move on to the low res model. I'll add wear and imperfections in the walls and columns with the normal map. I'm not aiming for things to be absolutely perfect, just satisfactory enough. I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but this is the first piece ever for the first version of my portfolio.

    Let me know what you think.
  • psychoticprankster
    You have to many patterns, Id recomend just putting a picture above the door when texturing it or sculpting some human like figers or something or just putting one big symbol which has meaning to it there.

    It looks great for your first portfollio piece. :)
  • spetch
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    spetch polycounter lvl 11
    very cool piece, I love your details. I'm interested to see how everything comes out when you bake it down. My only suggestion would be to round your edges. This is more of a personal preference, I tend to do it with all of my high poly models.

    A subtle rounded edge on the arches above the door and the square columns will catch the light better. Your trim at the bottom definitely could use this because it is hard to determine that it is 3 separate pieces when the camera is low to the ground. You could either chamfer the edge or put a connect on either side of the surface with a smoothing group in the middle. I can't remember how smoothing works in maya since im a max user.
    Rooster suggested chipping away at the brick. This takes a bit more time but it has a huge payoff.
    If you have time to go into zbrush it will only make your piece look better. It will probably save you time instread of trying to paint everything in photoshop/crazy bump, etc. Try using the mallet fast with a low strength to make subtle chips at your arches/concrete.
  • kylix3d
    Hi-

    I have finished the high poly model. I'm now trying to add further details in Zbrush, which I just got a couple days ago. I've imported the model as an OBJ file and have noticed that the mesh is somewhat distorted. Does anyone know what this could be?

    Here are some screenshots:

    zbrush01.jpg
    zbrush02.jpg
    zbrush03.jpg

    Thanks!
  • sketch81
    Very nice work.
    In regards to the mesh blowing up, have you checked if all your verts are merged/welded and there are no holes in the mesh.
    Look forward to your ZBrush sculpt..
  • kylix3d
    Hi-

    I'm in the process of fixing the geometry for the overall model, as at the time I consciously had n-gons and holes in it. Thus the model will be in quads (with a few triangles here and there) so I can work with it in Zbrush. In an attempt to make things easier, I will also be importing the model as separate meshes so I can have them as subtools.

    For now, I'm getting used to going between the programs and I am working with one of the columns. I fixed its geometry so that there are no n-gons or holes. I've deleted its history, frozen its transformations, and made sure that all of its normals were facing outwards. I also selected the entire object and merged its vertices. However, I'm still getting this strange problem where some of its faces are only visible from the back (inside the column etc).

    columnglitch.jpg
    columnglitch2.jpg

    I am currently in the process of watching tutorials, but I thought I might ask if anyone knew the solution to this problem.

    Thanks!
  • DarthNater
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    DarthNater polycounter lvl 10
    Looks to me like you have some normals facing the wrong way. May want to go double check. Also, make sure all your polys are as square as possible and as close to the same size as possible. That base looks like you have some rectangular polys. You're going to run into some problems because of this (Things will look distorted and some areas will look noisy).
  • Shogun3d
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    Shogun3d polycounter lvl 12
    Are these textures going to be tiling or overlapped? Something to consider when applying damage?
  • nfrrtycmplx
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    nfrrtycmplx polycounter lvl 18
    highly recommend going to the zbrush classroom website and viewing the tutorial on constructing a building.

    http://www.pixologic.com/zclassroom/homeroom/

    Might give you some tips on how to construct this in zbrush faster.
  • Reverenddevil
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    Reverenddevil polycounter lvl 9
    Also there is a flip option on the right side tool bar in the display properties tab. I had issues before where my normals in Max were correct but they were flipped no matter what direction I had them in Max. The flipping in Zbrush was the only way I got them to display properly. Let me know if this works for you.
  • Famouz
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    Famouz polycounter lvl 8
    Maybe Tool -> Display Properties -> Double
  • kylix3d
    Apparently I had to hit "double" in the display preferences in ZBrush in order for my model to show up properly, even when I made sure that all my normals faced outward in Maya. I tested the model by bringing it back into Maya and everything was fine.

    Even though I like my overall model, its geometry needs improvement, as has been pointed out.

    Nonetheless I wanted to experiment a little in adding wear to the column, just to see what it was like. Keep in mind these were just quick attempts, I know they are lacking and are a little strange.

    worn-columns.jpg

    Since I'm getting more familiar with topology's importance, I added to the mesh of the column. I know this needs to be subdivided, along with the rest of the model.

    column-top.jpg
    column-bottom.jpg

    Finally, there has been concern over the detail that's actually part of the model. I prefer to model things as much as I reasonably can since I'm not exactly comfortable (at this point) in creating the detail in Photoshop.

    Comments appreciated as always. Thanks!
  • nfrrtycmplx
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    nfrrtycmplx polycounter lvl 18
    the problem could be that your mesh is double sided in maya... and it looks fine in maya but actually isn't. make sure your object isn't 2 sided "Backface culling" is turned on...

    The objects shouldn't be flippied in zbrush when they come in.
  • kylix3d
    Hi-

    I've now started the somewhat laborious process of adding supporting edges to the model so it can be smoothed and allow for a better mesh. I can see now that this is something I should've done from the start... Since using Zbrush is definitely part of my personal process, I additionally try to make sure that there are no holes or n-gons in the model as well. This initially might be a little time-consuming, but I really like the amount of detail I can get with the brushes etc.

    I'm going through element by element with the model and fixing the geometry. I've done the geometric pattern above the door.

    Subdivided wireframe:

    pattern-element.jpg

    An experiment with adding rust and damage:

    worn-pattern.jpg

    Comments as always are greatly appreciated. Thanks.
  • DarthNater
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    DarthNater polycounter lvl 10
    I find in Zbrush, to make the wear and damage look more realistic, take it in small steps. I'm actually in the process of writing a tutorial on my workflow (not that I'm pro, but I hope it will help someone LOL).

    I take very short strokes with the clay brush on subtract. I usually have the focal shift down low to (around -30). My intensity usually doesn't go above 25 to 30 either. Take the damage in passes and it will come out looking more natural and weathered.

    Also start at the lowest subdivision possible. If you crank up the subs and start high, things get too smooth and blurry.
  • kylix3d
    Hi-

    I was away for awhile... I have finished the model in Maya. It has supporting edges etc so it can be smoothed properly. I was experimenting with bringing in parts of the model as seperate tools into Zbrush, then as one whole mesh split using the "group split" command (caused it to crash)... I'll be learning about Maya/Zbrush workflow in a little while. I just wanted to check in, so to speak.

    For good measure (perhaps redundantly) here's a shot of the model:

    mausoleum-pic.jpg
  • kylix3d
    Hi-

    I've started working on the brick walls. Comments?

    zbrush-mausoleum-01.jpg
    zbrush-mausoleum-02.jpg
  • System
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    System admin
    Some nice detail going on, have a couple of suggestions;

    ---
    Brickwork: This is destroying the view of the doorway as there is too much detail clashing. Try making the wall totally flat and then play with a bottom border of 1x bricks, slightly higher at the corners but keeping away from the door area.

    Columns: I think you could lose all those inner columns on both sides leaving just the ones at the far sides of the building, maybe even just 3 columns per side. This would make a pathway around the building and also minimize sculpting.
    ---

    Overall, just think of the areas that have the best detail or things that you want to be obvious, then ensure the surrounding detail is very minimal so it pops.
  • Progg
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    Progg polycounter lvl 11
    I feel like the brick detail is far too bubbly and blobby. Every brick has the same bloated feel to them and it is starting to blur together. I think they are a bit overdone and the scale of the details on them are making them look smaller rather than large. The model itself looks great though. Keep tweaking.

    I wouldn't suggest wasting poly's on an interior hole in the brick wall unless you plan on opening the door up for some reason.
  • premium
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    premium polycounter lvl 13
    Nice details, but I don't like the half-bricks on the corners.. (don't know if someone mentioned that before).
  • psychoticprankster
    the brick work on the front destroys that model for me. I just can't take it seriously that way.
    and thats coming from a fan of this piece of work whos being following its progress.
  • DrunkShaman
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    DrunkShaman polycounter lvl 14
    You know you can render the model in the zbrush and export it with the bumpmap? I think I saw someone doing it. =\

    Over all the model was amazing until the last update. It really kills the model (I'll side with psychoticprankster)
    Either remove these new bricks and work on the old ones you had before, or, you can work on entire model. your pick.

    Amazing work again! :)
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