September Challenge - Concepts Posted! - Page 3

# 31 01-09-2003 , 11:39 PM

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Yes Mike I am sure you are so creatively devoid of ideas you'd want ours!!

I'll be utterly amazed if anything I make this month ended up being anything more than a turgid pile of polys let alone in a game!!:bgreen:

Seriously though I really am grateful for the time you've taken to give us this insight into the real world of game things, it's quite an exciting challenge this month as a result!

I was hunting for some low poly Maya things and thought I would share a few links to help people get started;

https://www.mtmckinley.net/tut9.html (of course!)

And Mike's unwrapping video too - invaluable and just answered a few questions I had formulated.

https://www.planetunreal.com/mentalli...ute1Page3.html

https://www.3dtotal.com/team/Tutorial...enmathis_1.asp

Last edited by Witchy; 02-09-2003 at 12:25 AM.

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# 32 01-09-2003 , 11:43 PM

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Thanks witchy.
Should help some of the participants.

adldesigner
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# 33 02-09-2003 , 02:54 AM

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Aargh, not Ben Mathis' tutorial! lol just kidding. He's one of my co-workers. user added image

He's got enough of an ego for us to go posting his link everywhere. lol

user added image

Just kiddin' ya, Ben. user added image

-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

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# 34 02-09-2003 , 07:47 PM

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Hello, I was wondering are we allowed to use deformers on our polys?

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# 35 02-09-2003 , 08:13 PM

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I pretty much suppose they can be used to aid in the modelling process, yet you have to remember to bake the changes at the end of the modelling process.

adldesigner
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Hell .. not gone perse, but with a certainly lower post count per day.

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# 36 02-09-2003 , 08:24 PM

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Umm, what does "bake" mean and how do I do it? user added image

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# 37 02-09-2003 , 11:14 PM

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very cool challenge. Like the long and detailed list of real world requirments. Looking very much forward to seeing the results user added image

Check out the subsurfacescattering on my tongue...

<a href="https://www.reitzmachine.com">www.reitzmachine.com</a>

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# 38 03-09-2003 , 12:14 AM

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Originally posted by HappyLemon
Umm, what does "bake" mean and how do I do it?

Originally Posted by

bake means, to make the change permanent.

You do this by deleting the history.

-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

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# 39 03-09-2003 , 01:32 AM

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Hey guys, im back! Im so sorry but my ISP had a major crash and it cut me totally off of internet, there was no connection at all since friday to now (tuesday). Sheesh! im back though user added image

. ANd i LOVE this months challenge.. i hope you all have read all the rules and give us some great entries user added image

.. like always user added image

"I should call you sugar maple tree cause i'd totally tap that" haha

email - mattwettstein@gmail.com

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# 40 03-09-2003 , 03:34 AM

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ATTENTION!

Please make sure everyone reads the little blurbs under the concept image you choose!

While you do have a lot of freedom, there are some guidelines from your friendly, neighborhood Art Director to take into consideration for each concept! user added image

-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

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# 41 03-09-2003 , 04:45 AM

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Hello Mtmckinley.. my interests have been fired. In terms of judging - it is going to be all entrants/per category going head to head no matter what they do or is it all entrants/per category being accessed on what they're doing based on category. How would you assesse an environment vs a character?

** this is a strange question but I'm guessing game engines don't deal with quads at all - so only triangles? I don't know how Low-poly works user added image

Last edited by TheGreenGiant; 03-09-2003 at 04:51 AM.

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# 42 03-09-2003 , 05:03 AM

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Can't answer your first question, but I do know that game engines only work with triangles. In case you didn't know, you can triangulate by choosing Polygons>Triangulate and your selected object will be triangulated.

Not sure if I understand your low poly question. Do you not know what low poly is or how to model low poly objects? Modeling in low poly is more difficult for characters in my opinion, because you have to include a lot of detail using a minimal amount of polys. The trick is to basically not use as many faces as you usually do.

With a cylinder for instance, the lowest number of subdivisions around the axis you can make it is 13 before th normals get messed up a little. At this point, it looks very blocky. An easy fix is to select appropriate edges and choose EditPolygons>Normals>Soft/Harden. This will make your object look smoother than what it really is. I have found that I use this technique a lot when low poly modeling.

Another example is the railing I used in my challenge entry. It consists of four faces (untriangulated) all the way around. (basically a cube shape) By adjusting the normals however, it can be made to look very round dispite its true nature. In my opinion, knowing how to adjust normals to suit your needs is the biggest asset one can have when low poly modeling.

Hope this helps some.

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# 43 03-09-2003 , 05:10 AM

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While the true nature of this challenge is to give competitors a real-world type experience, the "winners" at the end will be based on:

1) Following the rules.

Very important! If your director tells you only to use 512 textures, and you give him a 1024... well, you didn't do your job, no matter how nice the 1024 might be. If your poly limit has a strict cap of 3000, and you make it 3001... you better find a poly to get rid of. user added image

That may seem extreme, but remember, your "limit" for characters is actually 1500... but your CAP is 3000, so we gotta draw the line there.

Remember that these limitations are there for a reason! They are what make the game possible!

2) Ability to match the overall look and feeling of the chosen concept.

This is very subjective, of course, but your Art Director may or may not be very good at describing what he wants. It's very possible that something that you think follows the concept exactly, the Art Director could say, "No, that's not what I want." Obviously, if choosing the Barbarian Warrior concept, and you end up with Rainbow Fairy Princess... something went wrong somewhere. user added image

All the judges will attempt to be as fair as possible in this regard.

All in all, my hope is that everyone is rewarded at the end with a great portfolio piece! Especialy those of you looking to get into the game industry.

-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

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# 44 03-09-2003 , 05:15 AM

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here's a tip in regard to low-poly modeling:

"Make every polygon count!"

Think to yourself... if I removed that polygon, would the shape still look ok? If so, you probably don't need it!

Don't forget about textures! Textures will MAKE or BREAK your model! You could have the best model in the world, but if you don't spend time on a quality texture, it'll still look crap. On the other hand, you could have a horrible model, yet if you have a fantastic texture, it might not look bad at all!

-Mike
The Maya Toolbelt

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# 45 03-09-2003 , 05:28 AM

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Here's an example character that I did as an art test for a studio. I ALMOST got the job. user added image

Take a look at the wireframe. Maybe it could help some.

My strict cap was 1200 polys. I managed to do it in 1198. user added image

Notice, if you will, the knees. They are divided to allow for bending. The elbows are divided the same way on the other side. Feel free to check out my site, or SM's gallery for more pics of this guy.

Most of the geometry was devoted to the face to allow for facial animation. His arms are 5-sided, and his legs are 6-sided. Not a standard, persay, but it works. Also, notice the legs converge to a point where they meet the boots. Since they're covered, it doesn't matter.

https://www.simplymaya.com/gallery/ma...m-3Quarter.jpg

PS> For those wondering, the left textured one was using the requried texture resolutions of 2 128x128 textures and 1 32x32 texture. The one on the right was using 1024x1024. I just wanted to show 'em both. user added image

-Mike
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