Here is a pumpkin for a lowpoly holloween contest at the lowpoly workshop.
I had a lot of fun working on this one.
In another bit of news, I’ve got a new stone and wood tutorial on the way. Learned a lot since making the originals and want to update them a bit.
Here is my finished WW1 Ghost Rider for the comicon Challenge over at Game Artisans. I barely finished it up on time!
The flames are actually 3D planes around the head. I hid them on the wireframe image below so it wouldn’t obscure the face. Looking back I should have included them, oh well. Too late now.
I’m happy with the way it turned out. I wish I didn’t have to rush the flames and the pose. Started on those with 45 minutes left. But overall I’m pleased. I had to figure out the whole baking process and it was a huge learning experience and a ton of fun.
Thanks for checking it out!
Here is the first test bake of my WW1 Ghost rider. I’m pretty happy with the way it came out. Especially being the first test. Right now the low Poly is sitting around 13,00 tris. The contest limit is 14,000, so I’ve got some room to play with. I’ll tweak some poly’s, re-bake, then onto textures!
With time quickly running out I had to get the high poly done and finished. Now I need to build the low-poly, UV map, and texture it.
Started working on Ghost Rider in zbrush. Since I mostly do low-poly environment art at work I’m a bit out of practice with zbrush. Had to go back and watch some tutorials.
While watching/listening to those tutorials I cranked out this little low-poly cyclops guy. I’d like to take him into 3d coat to try out their poly paint tools.
And here is a third character I’ve been working on this week, something for a game idea I had. Used the base mesh I created for the Ghost Rider.
Lots going on and so little time!
I’ve done a couple of texture painting tutorials and figured it was time for some quick modeling tips. These are some common problems I notice in a lot of work from beginner game artist.
One of the most common problems is letting the edges continue on well after they are needed. Game art is all about efficiency. Each point/edge/polygon should be there for a purpose. When that point/edge/polygon no longer adds to the form of the model, nuke it.
Here is an example of a ledge on a cylinder. I often find those new to modeling cut three rings around the cylinder and pull the middle edges out to create the ledge, while letting the support edges continue along the model.
As soon as the ledge has been defined, delete the extra edges. The model below looks identical to the object above, but it contains 12 polygons less that the original model. And if your really picky about keeping four sided polygons, here is a trick to end that middle edge and keep it all four sided.
Another common mistake happens on walls with railings or walkways. This is probably the most common modeling mistake I’ve seen, but it’s also very simple to fix.
Instead of letting the edges run along the top and back of the railing as seen in the example above, delete them right after they define the form. A simple diagonal cut will save a lot. With long curved railings it can really lower the poly count.
The main goal is to constantly think about efficiency and form. If it doesn’t add to anything but the poly count, toss it. The example below is a common grid with a couple extra edges sliced into the model to make the corner elevated, something I’ve seen in a lot of ground planes in levels from new game artist. It can quickly get out of hand and look like a maze of polygons.
By deleting those extra edges you keep the same look and have a clean plane. Along with efficiency and form, remember to keep it clean!
These simple tips may only save a few polygons per object, but over an entire environment or character it will make a huge difference. Look for the areas where you can use this stuff. You’ll find it!
Now, there are some times when you do want edges that don’t add to the form, but serve other functions. Some examples are vertex lighting or texture blending. But that is a topic for a later time. Thanks for checking it out!
Done in the name of fun and practice!
