GAMC #1 - MatthewNovak

[MatthewNovak]

Well, I got right to it. I didn't change it too much so hopefully its still valid.

Pretty much I'm going for a wall unit that is used to grow potatoes, carrots.etc. Since in the future (where this object exists) the earth is too polluted and its atmosphere has drastically changed making it no longer sufficient for growing food. Therefore people monitor the oxygen on these machines and fill them with water and chemicals which generates a artificial sun light and filters water with the end result making plants/vegetables grow at a enormous rate while still maintaining some nutrients.



Next up is some optimization and hopefully being able to fit in the handles, some lights on that side half bubble instead of a flat bottom and some rails inside for that pullout thing to slide along. And maybe some more leafy foliage in the sliding thing, oh and I didn't do the bubble on the bottom of the unit, but I might just leave that out since it probably wouldn't serve any important purpose.

[Pdude2K7]

Good start! Looks to me like you could optimize the hoses a bit and perhaps remove some of the chamfering on the sides.

[MatthewNovak]

Originally Posted by Pdude2K7

Good start! Looks to me like you could optimize the hoses a bit and perhaps remove some of the chamfering on the sides.

Hoses, yes they can be optimized, however I would like to keep the chamfers on the edge they really help it out to give it more flow rather than just a drastic cut off on the side. I do however have quite a bit of unseen polygons that can go as well as alot of points/polys that could be merged and not effect the look.

I think the hardest part is going to be getting the lush leafiness I want for the plants, and UV mapping won't be the funnest thing.

[MatthewNovak]

Ok, I optimized it, added some things. Its now 1497 Triangles.



Only thing now is how I should approach UV mapping, especially with all those plants. I'm probably going to have to do it manually because the auto unwraps/automatic are looking pretty poor.

[MatthewNovak]

Ok, to approach the UV map the best way possible I could think was to keep the object split up, the main frame of the object would be mapped to a 512x512, then the accessories and the rest were split up to occupy 4 x 256x256.

This way Its not such a big tedious task when trying to select the triangles and it seems less overwhelming. After I mapped the 512x512 and 4x 256x256. I then merged it and I had nicely grouped blocks of all the maps which then I can layout and fill a 1024x512 with.

Some ares of these sub blocks before I lay them out on the 1024x512, are very very tight and sometimes very wasteful. Which makes it nice when I lay it on the 1024x512 because then certain areas that may need more space can use areas were objects don't need much space.

Here's a screen shot when I say some are very very tight. Haha, I cant wait to put that on the 1024x512 to give it some room to breathe (just a tiny bit of padding) and to fill up that unused top space.



Anyways while UV mapping these sub-parts I found some more optimizations I was able to perform in the mesh, I also temporarily deleted all the foliage until I'm done UV mapping all the main parts and then I can use the left over space and create all the foliage in the end.

[irds]

After your low-poly mine looks just terrible, I have to learn a lot )
And UVs looks really great, for me it's always a pain. Can't wait to see you high-poly.

[Pankake]

There is an easier way of counting the tris than triangulating your geometry. Open your viewport properties>statistics>check the triangles box. Looking good so far, though .

[MatthewNovak]

Ah, I've learned a new thing. Ive been playing around in 3DSMax and I learned how to bake high polys -> Normal Map for low polys. I think I'm gonna use that to make the normal map. However I have a couple questions before I start.

1. The low poly object must remain in the exact same position as the high poly for the projection to work right, correct? Also how can I hide a object, like hide the low poly while I'm working on the high poly?...

2. In most 3D apps when I use the cut/slice tool I can choose how many segments I want to slice on the X, Y, or Z axis. If left at 1 it cuts the selected area perfectly in half. I noticed in 3DSMax I do not have that option, I just get some stupid slice plane or have to slice it manually. I'm sure there must be a way, how do I go about specifying a number of segments to slice or how do I slice a selection at exactly 50%/In Half?

Thanks.

[JBaird]

1. You want to keep the low poly in the same position as the high.

2. You can just right click while the object is selected and click hide selected or hide unselected if you want to hide everything but what is selected.

3. You are wanting to use the 'connect' tool. You select the edges of the object and push connect and it will put as many cuts in the model as you want and you can also move them around to get them where you want.

[MatthewNovak]

Originally Posted by JBaird

1. You want to keep the low poly in the same position as the high.

2. You can just right click while the object is selected and click hide selected or hide unselected if you want to hide everything but what is selected.

3. You are wanting to use the 'connect' tool. You select the edges of the object and push connect and it will put as many cuts in the model as you want and you can also move them around to get them where you want.

Thank you very much!.

Ill probably have my next update some time tomorrow night.