Sean-D-Omega

This is a university assignment which is for the Computer Games Art course im currently studying. Therefore the primary use of this model would be for a game. (A pretty damn detailed game considering the polly limit!).


Please bear in mind im no pro at this kind of thing and much prefer to sit down and paint in photoshop. Yep im a 2D artist, trying to get to grips with 3D so please bear that in mind.
Any crits and help along this crazy jorney will be more then apreciated and im gonna need it and ill be sure to reply to each one.

THings to keep in mind, The castle is suppost to be textured allthough not to a tottaly high quality. It should be able for use in a computer game and should have all relevant foliage included. :O
Anyway enough blabber heres some pics :
Some things i need to fix is the lighting issue with the windows, that shadow just looks wierd. And also the ridge appearing on the 3 windows. Ive triedto figure out why its doing that but honestly cant see any dodgy verts or anything and it all seems clean to me. oh well And some of the gemoatry could be a bit wonky, mainly because i used a booleon for the first time and diddent know it would change the WHOLE tapology. Unfortunately dident notice untill it was too late :P Which only means more time cleaning everything up!

Sean-D-Omega

im at a problem stage now, basicly ive just done this quick area to model some thick vines/leaves/lichen etc going up the wall and trying out a few different things to get it looking a little like the photo once i add texture to it. Now its either carrying on this way, using the actuall geomatry to shape the thickness and maybe adding some planes with leaf textures on later OR should i probably do it without shaping and just add some planes with leaf textures on and use the actuall wall texture merging in with the lichen? If that makes sence, if anyone has a good way of doing this or just to say im not/am on the right track that would be more then great!
Heres the photo :

Heres The Model (Ignore absolutely crappy tapology, experimenting so ill be cleaning it all up once i decide on the best way or someone gives me a hand :
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/2953/ss107xm5.jpg
THANKS!!

Sean-D-Omega

http://img402.imageshack.us/img402/3127/ss81so8.jpg

Thanks for looking guys, hope to hear some feedback from you soon
Oh and to finish off heres a photo of pernstijn castle :

Sean-D-Omega

http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/5634/ss96od0.jpg
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/8230/ss95uf2.jpg

Thats all for now, hope to hear some usefull comments

Tommy L

January 22nd deadline eh? I wish i was a student again!
When youre in the real world you'd be lucky to get a week......

Anyway, it looks like youre going well. The foliage is going to be tricky. As its for a game i doint really know your constraints, but you could add textures to planes with alpha maps for transparency to keep the count low, or use a volume particle flow within the 'box' model of the ivy (technically i dont think it adds to the polycount, but it is extra geometry that's being generated). Lichen (im not sure you've used the right word there) can be just textures on your stone mapping.

Id get your lighting sorted asap. You cant test render-times without it. I assume the window lighting problem you mention is the open window frame casting a long shadow...theres no problem there, it'll look ok once the textures are in and its running over a bump or something.

How are you lighting the scene/what render engine?

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My website: http://www.burningboystudio.com/
My blog: http://thomaslivings.blogspot.com/

richmondlu

You are on a good start. I guess I would clean up you line work a little make sure everything is either a 4 or three sided poly and i like to make them as clean as possable for your uv mapping. Also i would post this on cgtalk.com in the game art section they would be able to help you out alot.
Good luck to you and will be keeping an eye on this..

Sean-D-Omega

hey thanks guys Glad someone took notice of my work. Yeah the deadline is looming, i mean im sure in the reall world its pathetic but for me whos more of a digital concept artist its tough times learning everything. Either that or im just slow

Tommy : for the foliage ill probably just use the Ivy going up the wall less thick so could probably get away with a bumped texture on the wall, IF i get time ill probably tackle it more proffesionally. God i suck at spelling!

I havent put loads of thought into the lighting as thats new to me at this stage too. Right now for these im just using normal Default in max, ill probably look into vray or something unless you know a good one to use that wont take more then a couple of hours to set up. (such a noob) lol

Rich : Thanks, yeah this cleaning up is driving me bonkers right now, im sure ill be insane by the end of it. I have a problem trying to add in stairs next to a flat wall, obviously putting in all those little pollys next to one big polly is a no no and means well dodgy shading issues. So going to have to stress over trying to connect all the edges onto something else. Stress! lol

Thanks again guys, any more tips etc will be greatly apreciated. Ill probably throw in a couple more renders tomorrow if i get much done.

Cya!

Tommy L

Easiest to learn quick is using the 'elight' or 'domelight' plugin. It can give really good soft shadows (fake gi) if you use it right, without having to learn a new render engine. Its a rig of point lights arrayed in a dome to simulate skylight.

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My website: http://www.burningboystudio.com/
My blog: http://thomaslivings.blogspot.com/

Sean-D-Omega

Cheers again Tommy, ill be sure to give those a try later on Thankyou!

Sean-D-Omega

Heres some questions that i really should know the answer too, if anyone has the wisdom please let me know

Layers : Where is the option for setting up different layers in 3dsmax??

Colour Change : Is it possible to change the Edge colour when the model is selected under smooth and highlights showing edges? White is really getting on my nerves for some strange reason. lol

hmm thats about it for now, hope someone can help me