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S&W model 3 WIP

I made this S&W a few years ago:
AJrHFiH.jpg
It's ok for a mid-low poly model (about 18k tris), but no good for sub-d and high poly. I'm going through the process of making it so
Here's a look at the Cylinder:
Old:
MiYBWm8.jpg
k9wqvFB.jpg
New:
JYkibub.jpg
3g7WJxb.jpg
Turbosmooth:
8BTcCpz.jpg
lMA2Rz2.jpg
Any Suggestions and tips welcome

Replies

  • JoshWilkinson
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    JoshWilkinson polycounter lvl 9
    I don't think you could use this as a high or low poly model. Like you said, it obviously won't sub-d in its current state (but there's no reason it can't be cleaned up and act as a base for sub-d) and despite its reasonable poly count for current gen titles, it doesn't show a good use of poly allocations. However, again, this can be optimized and act as a base for a lower-poly model as well.

    Just duplicate it. Optimize one and high poly the other
  • Exut
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    Thanks a lot for the input! I agree. Do you have any suggestions for a low poly count for a 1st person view and 3rd person view? I'm very new to normal mapping. Thanks a lot for your input! Do you think the new high poly Cylinder looks ok for these purposes?
  • Exut
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    BTW why could this not be used as a mid/low poly model? Is it the reliance on smoothing groups?
  • Quack!
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    Quack! polycounter lvl 17
    It is impossible to critique hard surface work with a GI render. I recommend using a dark diffuse, high spec, and medium-wide gloss as the material.

    Until we can see that, it is hard to see if your sub divided model will work.
  • Exut
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    Thx Quack! I'm using vray, any specific suggestions there? Or should I just use standard max materials? Any material setting suggestions would be most helpful! I appreciate the feedback.
    Maybe a dark high spec gloss mat, w/o gi.. but then what kind of lighting setup?
    Thanks again
    I was trying to go for nice beauty shot for the final high poly, but you're right, pretty lighting and gi can high a lot of flaws, thanks!
  • Exut
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    I tried a couple of re-renders using your suggestions...
    roiyjTN.jpg
    This is using scanline renderer, default lighting, and materials as per your request. Is this what you meant?
  • Exut
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    I for sure see a stripe in the shading. Do you have any suggestions to eliminate that? Thank you for bringing this to my attention btw!
  • JoshWilkinson
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    JoshWilkinson polycounter lvl 9
    The reason why you wouldn't use this as a low poly piece isn't because there are too many polygons; the poly count is fine really. The problem is that it doesn't show you know how to model. A good number of your edge loops aren't contributing to the silhouette so this needs to be optimized. While you obviously know how to model, this doesn't show that you know how to model for games, which work within poly budgets and contraints. And when you have unoptimized geo, you have waste.

    The problem with the high poly is that, while realistic, the edges are too sharp and won't transfer to a normal map during the bake. There's a picture of an EOTech sight that illustrates this point but I'll have to just summarize it; exaggerate edges and make them slightly too soft so the details don't get lost.
  • JoshWilkinson
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    JoshWilkinson polycounter lvl 9
    Regarding your question about a good poly count, usually I like to position the model approximately to where it will be viewed. If a cylinder doesn't look quite round, I add more polygons before I proceed. On a revolver, I think you should be able to easily get away with 4-6k tris. I just did a pretty low poly revolver over the weekend that ended up being 960 tris and maintained a decent amount of silhouette.
  • Quack!
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    Quack! polycounter lvl 17
    Yea, the main issue here is that your edges are razor sharp and have become a waste of detail.

    http://wiki.polycount.com/NormalMap?action=AttachFile&do=get&target=normal_edge_thickness.jpg

    Beyond that, there isn't enough to critique yet, loosen up the support edges and keep on movin!
  • Exut
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    kk Thanks a lot for the input guys! I really appreciate it and it's very valuable! I think I get the fact that for high poly game models, you need to ease up on the support loops. A lot of times I do a couple of double smooths, then a final regular turbosmooth, since I"m going for photo realism. Is the reason for easing up on the razor sharp detail the fact that the normal maps are limited to their pixel resolution, and thus that extra polygon resolution is wasted? As such, is there any way that photorealistic models and game models can meet in the middle? I am just wondering since I love game art, but I also have recently fallen in love with really high detail art like the end of the Avengers movie. Is there any way to reconcile the models for both these purposes, or do they essentially need to be recreated for both purposes?
    Thanks Quack for your recommendation on the material settings for the model btw. That has been a big help in identifying problem areas in the mesh.
    For certain areas where that striping occurs and where you get pinching even though the geometry in all quads, I was thinking of bringing it into zbrush for smoothing, esp the shift-off smoothing (hold shift then let go) type. Thanks again for all the input guys
  • Quack!
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    Quack! polycounter lvl 17
    Exut wrote: »
    kk Thanks a lot for the input guys! I really appreciate it and it's very valuable! I think I get the fact that for high poly game models, you need to ease up on the support loops. A lot of times I do a couple of double smooths, then a final regular turbosmooth, since I"m going for photo realism. Is the reason for easing up on the razor sharp detail the fact that the normal maps are limited to their pixel resolution, and thus that extra polygon resolution is wasted? As such, is there any way that photorealistic models and game models can meet in the middle? I am just wondering since I love game art, but I also have recently fallen in love with really high detail art like the end of the Avengers movie. Is there any way to reconcile the models for both these purposes, or do they essentially need to be recreated for both purposes?
    Thanks Quack for your recommendation on the material settings for the model btw. That has been a big help in identifying problem areas in the mesh.
    For certain areas where that striping occurs and where you get pinching even though the geometry in all quads, I was thinking of bringing it into zbrush for smoothing, esp the shift-off smoothing (hold shift then let go) type. Thanks again for all the input guys

    Yea the suggestion to loosen up your support edges is meeting in the middle between realism and normal map and screen resolution.

    I don't ever recommend taking a hard surface model into Zbrush, unless it is absolutely necessary. In this case, pinching and 'striping' is just bad poly flow. Practice and understanding are key here, read this entire thread, taking a break everyonce in a while to attempt the tough shapes presented in the thread: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56014
  • JoshWilkinson
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    JoshWilkinson polycounter lvl 9
    Quack has provided some good intel. And I'll share some experience with you; I tried taking a model with some pinching into ZBrush a while back to do exactly what you suggested. What I didn't realize at the time is that once inside ZBrush, I've upped my polycount so high, with no real edge flow whatsoever, that after I finished smoothing I had a uneditable mesh. The technique sort of worked a bit but any changes I wanted to do to the base model, I had to re-import and re-smooth. Slow workflow. Would not recommend.

    That aside, the main problem I'm seeing here is that you began by saying you're trying to make a great game model and now you're saying you really like the realistic, hyper-detail stuff that Avengers used. It's important to recognize that you've described a desire to execute on some very different workflows.

    Typically, on showcase models, game designers work with high detail stuff and bakes those details into low-poly models. "Low poly" is becoming more and more of a relative term these days but it's a mesh with an intentional budget for real-time rendering.

    Movie studios have a pretty similar workflow except that the low poly models aren't nearly as low as game design because they don't have to work within real-time rendering constraints. But they absolutely bake their details from a high poly to low poly model and when baking, edge loops must be loose.

    Now rendering for a magazine image, that's when you're current high poly is perfect. The camera can get close and the edges maintain a realistic fidelity. So what you have is perfect if you don't intend to do anything else with your model. Unfortunately it doesn't illustrate a good workflow within any of the industry pipelines that you've expressed interest in.

    All this to say, I suggest figuring out what you want to do with your art, and then focus your attention there.
  • Exut
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    Thanks again for the great dialogue guys. I am really loving this!
    Quack: Word; http://wiki.polycount.com/NormalMap?..._thickness.jpg
    This is a great example of edging and resolution, but like, if you're in a first person shooter, wouldn't you want to go for the realistic version, then switch to a functional version when it's taking way less more area on the screen? like when it's on the ground? and there are a ton of them really far away?
    BringMeASunkist : word thanks. You see 10 meters under me. Thanks! Really great crits!. I think right now, I really wanna do super high detail avengers type stuff! So I think this forum might not be the best place for my type of thing. But at the same time... I've learned so much already, and everything I know is from polycount....
    This is just a prime example pf how unfocused i really am:
    https://vimeo.com/80528900
  • Bek
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    Bek interpolator
    Exut wrote: »
    if you're in a first person shooter, wouldn't you want to go for the realistic version, then switch to a functional version when it's taking way less more area on the screen? like when it's on the ground? and there are a ton of them really far away?

    You could do this by having the lower mips of the normal map baked from the softer model and the base normal baked from a tighter highpoly.... but that's an incredible amount of effort to go to for something that will go unnoticed by 99.9% of players.
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