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View Full Version : Lamborghini Gallardo (WIP) - Suggestions?

TrystanS
02-07-2008, 06:22 AM
Hey everyone,
New here and also somewhat new to 3d modeling and animation(been messing with it for the past few years while doing 3d level design for the video game mod 'Point of Existence 2' for battlefield 2(http://www.pointofexistence.com).

My first attempt at a 'real' car, the Lamborghini Gallardo. I wasn't expecting to do this but when I started a concept vehicle based on the Lamborghini's shape this eventually became my new goal.

I have noticed that my main problem is avoiding faces that have more than 4 vertices, as I am trying to minimize my total triangle count to make this vehicle as detailed as possible but at the same time as optimized as it possibly can be for video games. So far it is around 5,100 tri's

Also any suggetions/tips about smoothing groups would be appreciated, I'll try to browse these forums and search for more info on what I'm looking for, but I figured I would post my progress thus far to see what other members had to say about my work so far.

Any comments/questions/critiques welcome, thx!
-Trystan

Pics:
http://www.trystan.us/cg_talk_1.jpg
http://www.trystan.us/cg_talk_2.jpg
http://www.trystan.us/cg_talk_3.jpg

By the way the total of 5,500 tri' count will be used for the game "Battlefield 2" exterior view, once I have complete this exterior model I will then begin the inteior which is what the driver will see inside
TrystanS
02-08-2008, 08:17 PM
nothing? :shrug:
tjlenz
02-09-2008, 05:47 AM
To me it looks like you could really where you are putting your polys. To me the hood, windshield and top of the car look like they have more polys than needed. Fewer polys could give you the same look. But in the wheels and wheel wells I think those extra polys could be put to some use. Personally I think just look at what you really need to get the detail in and go from there. Otherwise nice model. And I would stay away from more than four sided polys.
TrystanS
02-09-2008, 07:26 PM
thx for the reply :) it does seem that I have a bunch of poly's on the roof/hood and under the car heh, I will try to optimize them a bit but when I try to optmize I usually just make more 5 sided poly's or triangles hehe

Quick question about the more than 4 sided poly thing: I know I'm supposed to try and stay with polys that only have 4 sides, but what about 3 sided(triangles)? Do I want to avoid those as well since it seems that I am just making a 5 sided poly 'appear' to be a 4 sided and a 3 sided poly side by side
tjlenz
02-09-2008, 09:24 PM
You don't have to avoid them at all costs but it is better to. Most things can be done without using anything but quads. Sometimes you just need to be creative about how you position your polys. Try to use the invisible edges to you advantage. Eliminating a whole line of polys might be the best way to go about doing it because then you dont have to worry about any odd faces.
TrystanS
02-09-2008, 10:25 PM
cool thx, i'll be trying to optimize the exterior once I get the interior completed which I am starting on now
Xaltar
02-10-2008, 10:23 AM
Tris are ok in a lot of places, the main reason so many people avoid them like the plague is that they sometimes subdivide badly and create "pinching" when you are trying to use a sculpting app or you are doing sub div modeling. Used wisely tris are actually very useful. 5 or more sided polys are a bad idea though, they often cause smoothing errors in game engines. With hard surface modeling (such as your car) tris are a lot more acceptable, particularly on flatter surfaces. You can often treminate two loops into one using a tri at the end without loosing any detail or creating problems. The only way to know where to and where not to use them is with experimentation.

A lot of new artists these days have no grounding in good old fasioned low poly work. When you have a budget of 500 tris or less you soon learn how to use your polys efficiently and where its "safe" to use tris instead of quads. I got into 3d through game modding so tris are almost second nature to me (most importers for games import in tris).

Good luck and don't be shy to experiment and try new things.
TrystanS
02-10-2008, 08:19 PM
awesome thanks for the info, makes me feel much more comfortable knowing that they are ok to use if used correctly. so far the ones I do have on my model don't seem to be giving me any issues with smoothing, this week has been a good learning experience, honestly can't wait to start on the next car hehe
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