Accuracy International - AS50
Hey guys, I started this piece about 2 weeks ago and was hoping for some helpfull feedback 
The scene obviously is part of epic's UDK foliage showcase map which I used to showcase my model as it fits in quite nicely. (thank you epic!)
The model specs:
Low: 9500 Polygons
High: 2.500.000 Polygons (used for normalsmap)
1024x1024 Diffuse
1024x1024 Normals
512x512 Specular
What do you guys think?
I will post a wireframe, the high res mesh and the textures when I get home after work.
The scene obviously is part of epic's UDK foliage showcase map which I used to showcase my model as it fits in quite nicely. (thank you epic!)
The model specs:
Low: 9500 Polygons
High: 2.500.000 Polygons (used for normalsmap)
1024x1024 Diffuse
1024x1024 Normals
512x512 Specular
What do you guys think?
I will post a wireframe, the high res mesh and the textures when I get home after work.
Replies
The scope is actually a SceneCaptureActor with a low field of view that renders to a texture that I use in the material
Obviously you can argue that a portfolio piece should be created with the intent to be "game ready". But that simply never was my intention
That said, the model is very nice.
So in this case, adding more polygons actually caused this to look worse in many angles. A quick fix for this would be to render out a double resolution shot and then resize in PS, but you'll want to keep this in mind for future (in-game) projects.
I re-uploaded the screenshots but now with FXAA5 enabled in the post process chain
keep on going with the feedback
You answered your own question. You can see the difference, without even seeing wires. So surely its worth it? Some guns in Killzone reach 14K.
Nice asset, and nice idea on the presentation!
model previewer UDK
High poly:
Low poly with normals map:
Low poly with wireframe and normals
hard surface materials can be very complex, so it's even more important that you plot them out first. is it bare metal? paint over bare metal? clearcoat over paint over bare metal? you can't add wear properly until you figure these sorts of things out.
here's what i mean by defining materials with just flat colors first. notice how the materials read well enough without any kind of added wear:
About modeling in the grooves; its because you can still see through it from certain angles. It was never my intention to create a usable game asset. if I would have then I would have modeled a lot of the parts seperately so they can be animated. Initially I was thinking about putting those in the normals map but as they add to the silhouette I chose not to.
My only crit is about the original renders. There is alot of dark on the gun and you can't really see any of the details on the gun, except for on the top. It's better in some of your later screenshots. I wanna see all that detailed lovely-ness
The lowpoly looks great except for the grooves. C'mon, you can't justify that. It's such a small detail taking up like a third of the tris count, kinda. No offence, but yeah, it gotta go
Do you make use of a gloss map?
This confuses me. You made a lowpoly and cast normals... so if you are not trying to create a useable game asset then what is it?
What they guys are saying is that (and this is even if it is useable or not) your normal map should carry those grooves fine. That is an extreme amount of geometry for nothing. And the reason their reaction is so strong is because if your entire lowpoly was done perfect... then that sort of kills it.
But looking at the amount of feedback im getting regarding those groves I am considering making a second low poly mesh that only uses that detail in the normalsmap when I get back from vacation. Need to make amendments to the base materials anyway
Again, im loving all the feedback, thanks guys!
sltrOlsson :Im not using a gloss map, do you think its worth it? I never actually made a gloss map before. So i'll look into it
Well, i think gloss is one fucking underestimated shader function, pardon my french. It really makes your materials pop and convince.