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LOW-POLY ART

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hawken polycounter lvl 19
This is the sweet spot for your low-poly models. Post 'em if you've got 'em!

Low-poly hasn't really been a requirement in the games industry for a long while now. This thread is for low-poly art style appreciation, so please take note of these rough guidelines:
  • Keep models under 1,000 triangles.
  • Scenes are fine, if all models are low poly.
Some dedicated low-poly modelling tools now exist that make this art style a lot easier to produce; Crocotile3D & Blockbench

Here's a handy list of ways to make your art look right in mainstream 3D software: Low-Poly Art Style Guide

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  • willy-wilson
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    willy-wilson polycounter lvl 8
    they work. Thanks! :)
  • OzMa
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    Thanks for upload your model. You inspired me to do something with that chibi style :)

    Here's a wip:

    wip1.jpg
  • 9skulls
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    9skulls polycounter lvl 13
    He sure has some stomach alright :P
  • willy-wilson
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    willy-wilson polycounter lvl 8
    does anyone know how to stop maya from filtering and blurring textures? :/
  • neosorcerer
  • OzMa
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    Texture wip update :)

    No disproportionate stomach anymore xD

    wip2.jpg
  • 9skulls
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    9skulls polycounter lvl 13
  • Andreas
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    Andreas polycounter lvl 11
    I reccomend killing the animation on the mouth, it's distracting. Nice work otherwise though. Almost got a Psychonauts feel to it.
  • ZacD
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    ZacD ngon master
    the face bugs me, wide open eyes and odd eye brows, I really like the rest.
  • mrmmaclean
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    mrmmaclean polycounter lvl 8
    Yeah, that face is TRIPPING me out, but I love the style! Nice work! :)
  • 9skulls
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    9skulls polycounter lvl 13
    @Blenderhead Yea I thought it might end like that.. Because I rigged the face, I though I also HAD to use it aswell, so I "forced" some facial animation to the mix... and end result came up kinda messy :D

    @ZacD & @mrmmaclean Maybe I'll edit the face a bit along with some other minor things, and tone down the trippyness :D

    Thanks for the crits!
  • OzMa
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    Very cool animation. It's hypnotizing :)

    Chibi kid finished. Maybe i'll add more stuff later :)


    chibikiddo.jpg
  • 9skulls
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    9skulls polycounter lvl 13
    Is he just a kid? I thought he was old, like a granny or something :P Maybe the haircut does that.
  • e-freak
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    9skulls - your awesome again :D keep it up!
  • Bruno Afonseca
    @ 9skulls - great work! but the animation feels a bit weird. the waist and the pectoral girdle should spin in opposite directions while walking, yours feel a bit stiff!
  • 9skulls
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    9skulls polycounter lvl 13
    fonfa Thanks! THAT's what made it look a bit weird (among with the face..), funny how I didn't realize that :D Thanks for pointing that out!

    [ edit ]

    I went and fixed few things. For example I noticed that the model had only ONE spinal bone so no wonder it was a bit stiff xP So now the shoulder area should move a bit smoother. I also made a minor "fix" to his stoned eyes, and I think it DID make a difference but I'm not sure if others can see it aswell..?

    omakuvadarender.gif

    Don't mind about the infobox, it's for my DA ID...
  • mrmmaclean
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    mrmmaclean polycounter lvl 8
    Great stuff, 9skulls! I love the "snap" in his (your?) hand movement. The twist in the shoulders looks a lot better too.

    @OzMa: I really like it! Though I have to say it's not really the hair that makes the "kid" look like an old man but rather the bushy eyebrows and slightly sleepy looking eyes in combination with the hair. I actually like the bluish hair color!
  • Hitez
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    on his right hand there is some crazy jagged polygon that sticks out like a sore thumb.. but that would-be pun would be amazing if the poly was really in his thumb
  • Zoid
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    Zoid polycounter lvl 14
    9skulls wrote: »
    [ edit ]
    ok i dig the style and the creative Mmo avatar presentation.

    here are some crits to keep in mind

    1) chest is a Huge mass. relative to the hips the chest would stay more still in comparison to the counter balance rotation in the hips.

    2) human run/walk is the art of falling and catching oneself
    your characters posture seems to be too upright, is that intentional? i only say that bc if you want to break traditions you can (warning obnoxious clip lol)
    [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNfA5fXvTM8[/ame]
    as you can see Ed has a totally awesome run lol
  • brandoom
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    brandoom polycounter lvl 13
    love the presentation 9skulls - the bouncing platform great. :)
  • 9skulls
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    9skulls polycounter lvl 13
    @Hitez Damn those polygons, always getting in the way.. :poly118:

    @Zoid Ah counter balance, I did read about it from idleworm yet forgot to implement it here (apart from few little things, like the platform etc) :P Quess I was going for something that pleased my own eye in the first place, because to me the movement looks kinda harmonic now.
    And I'm not sure if the upright motion is 100% intentional, if at all.. "Everything that happened here, happened for random reasons" xP I'm not in total control of my animations - YET -, so things tend to happen w/o asking me first :P

    Thanks for pointing that out!

    @brandoom Thanks :-)
  • OzMa
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    mrmmaclean wrote: »
    @OzMa: I really like it! Though I have to say it's not really the hair that makes the "kid" look like an old man but rather the bushy eyebrows and slightly sleepy looking eyes in combination with the hair. I actually like the bluish hair color!

    Yes maybe the eyes look a bit sleepy and gives him a "tired look". Well i'll fix it later and I will use this base mesh to make variations for other characters.

    Thanks for the advice! :)
  • Gallows
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    Gallows polycounter lvl 9
    9skulls, you have a sick style. Just a quick question, don't know what the moderation is on asking, but were you ever a writer? Somehow I look at your stuff and it screams graffiti.
  • 9skulls
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    9skulls polycounter lvl 13
    Gallows wrote: »
    9skulls, you have a sick style. Just a quick question, don't know what the moderation is on asking, but were you ever a writer? Somehow I look at your stuff and it screams graffiti.
    I'm sorry, my brain cell is busy on thinking the next project and the other one is just generally slow, so I'm not sure if understand what you mean by that. Do you mean if I ever did graffiti arts? :P If so, my answer is "no". Though I wish I had, I've always loved the style and that medium in general is somehow fascinating. Guess my inspiration comes from that direction subconsciously :P

    Thanks for the comment! :)
  • Gallows
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    Gallows polycounter lvl 9
    You should definitely check out the movie Style Wars one of these days. There's a few clips on youtube, but back when I was obsessed this movie was my holy grail.
  • 9skulls
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    9skulls polycounter lvl 13
    There's a movie about graffiti? WOOT that's awesome, gonna check it out :)
  • OzMa
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  • 9skulls
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    9skulls polycounter lvl 13
    @OzMa Haha that's way too cool man :D I see you have your own Yoshi and Kirby and that giant mushroom thing (I guess you've finally found a way to enslave Toad) :P That's so much > than my hovering platform :( There's so much character in your model, and feels way better than the kiddo-granny earlier! And that hood is a genious idea :D



    {edit}

    @itismario Where I'd cut some polys:

    » If I counted correctly, your characters limbs have ~8 sides, when you could do fine with just 4. And that would spare you ALOT of polys.
    » Main body area has lots of stuff to cut off. For instance the loop that goes vertically from the armpit: cut it off! It doesn't do much at all to the profile.
    » The loop that goes vertically right in the middle of the boob: it's usefull to define breasts, but the part of the loop that continues down from the breast is useless since it doesn't give that much shape to the tummy.
    » That upward fold at the end of the leg is useless, and you could do fine by just texturing it
    » Same goes with the gorget (I tried to look a proper word from dictionary but that's the best result I got and it still sounds wrong lol), it's totally useless and best to do with texture
    » There's at least 6 polys in each shoe that could be cut away
    » There's a vertical loop around the neck = OFF!
    » There's probably many more loops to cut off, but here's just a few to get started


    And about the facial area: I'd like to see the wire for the face a bit closer because now it's kinda hard to see what's going on there. The texture makes her look like a beaten prostitute, so yeah, it's not probably too flattering (UNLESS that's what you're going for) :D And I think it's the black color you've used, it makes her look like she had bags under her eyes and kinda ragged anyways. Try making her look like more happy, add some more color to tone the skin. And that dark area on his chin.. ugh.

    Hope you find some of this helpful.


    { 2nd edit }

    We should seriously start a "Low Poly -me" thread :-D
  • OzMa
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    @9skulls: Yeah I enslaved toad and that's a mushroom ramen! :P I will like to see that "Low poly me" thread :D

    Your character is cool too. I'm loving that style.

    @itismario: I think that the orientation of the uvs from the face are incorrectly and that cause to deform the eyes and the lips. You should try that color correction that 9skulls suggest ;)
  • Mr_Drayton
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    Mr_Drayton polycounter lvl 14
    @itismario: 9Skulls said everything that you need to improve your character, but I would like to say some more things:

    - The layout of the texture wastes so much free space that you can put everything in a 256x128 one without noticeable detail loss... 256x256 is really big and if the space is fully and well used, you will get great detail. Reorder everything!
    - Is it really necessary to have the full head texture? It really wastes space... Create only half head and then mirror it on the 3D model. If you want to add wounds (like the one on the forehead), it could be better to add them separately, using a simple rectangular poly over her and texture transparency.
    - You should add some extra edges on the elbows and on the knees in order to get a decent bending of the arms and legs. Usually extra edges are placed on the external side of the joint. A single row of edges will bend the body horrendously, compressing it!
    - Low Poly models have unfiltered texture maps. It does mean that the texture on the 3D model will look pixelated (but, in my opinion, better). Try to disable the Filter Maps option before rendring!
    - The hand texture is... Ehm... It's not adeguate with the rest. D:
    - The head shape could be improved, and you may add about 4 polygons just to enhance the lips and the shape around eyebrows, eyes and upper part of the nose.

    I think one of the best examples to study are the Low-Poly models of Team Fortress 2, you can download them directly from the creator's site!

    @9Skulls: I like a lot your models! :O The last one is really well done!
  • Harry
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    Harry polycounter lvl 13
    OzMa wrote: »
    That's me! :P

    yo.jpg[IMG][/img]


    my suggestion is to employ some pixel art techniques to increase the crispiness without needing to size the texture up. It's an invaluable skill to all low-res artists
  • andersh
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    andersh polycounter lvl 10
    I MADE U A BURGER FOR VALENTINE'S

    burger01.jpg
  • yoyomon
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    yoyomon polycounter lvl 11
    andersh: That's the most thoughtful thing evar!
  • 9skulls
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    9skulls polycounter lvl 13
    itismario I'm glad it helped :) More things that I noticed:

    » Now there's a 5-sided ngon just under the breasts, and from what I've heard, polygons should NEVER have more than 4 sides :o Either triangulate it or rework the topology a bit
    » HEAD: Why does it look like that your character's nose has more than 3 tri's? I think her nose would look just fine with a pyramid shape.
    » HEAD: This might not work, but from here it'd look that the 2 vertical loops surrounding the ear could be welded together, also from the neck part.
    » And I just noticed that her neck might be just 1px too tall :P
  • Canadian Ink
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    Canadian Ink polycounter lvl 12
    Here is a Low Poly Space fighter I finished this weekend

    fighter_jet_final%20copy%20copy.jpg
  • 9skulls
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    9skulls polycounter lvl 13
    Shaun, that's lookin' good :) I think the texture could be a bit more interesting though, because when it's seen quickly it just looks like tiled cubes :f
  • Canadian Ink
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    Canadian Ink polycounter lvl 12
    9skulls wrote: »
    Shaun, that's lookin' good :) I think the texture could be a bit more interesting though, because when it's seen quickly it just looks like tiled cubes :f

    Thanks, I think i'll take another pass at the texture and try to make it more interesting.
  • omnione
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    Hi all! Its the first time I post any of my work. Love lowpoly models and there are some really cool ones here! Dug up this old model of mine and decided to finish texturing it. :) Texture is 128x128previewimage01.jpgpreviewimage02.jpg
  • OzMa
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    Hey, omnione, love the armor at the image two. Maybe the legs are to fat but is just a suggest ;)

    Here's my ninja!

    ninjacomp2.jpg
  • omnione
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    Hey OzMa, thaks! Nice model. Yeah I like em a bit thick. I dont know it just looks better at a distance to me :).
  • 9skulls
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    9skulls polycounter lvl 13
    Agreed, her legs are PERFECT! In fact, they could have that little something even more! I like women to have a little curve here and there, that is what makes a beautiful figure :smokin:

    @OzMa Model's pretty nice, but the texture looks a bit bland.
  • Snader
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    Snader polycounter lvl 15
    itismario wrote: »
    if i want her to have nice legs there are just some edges i can't delete, also i need the loop around the shoulder so it won't deform when it's rigged

    the cuffs at the bottom of the pants are poly planes around it, not an edge loop on the pants, the pants are supposed to be rolled up

    i merged vertexes on the neck piece to the body (i want that to be 3d adds more detail then just texturing it) and made some triangles on the poly planes for hair wished shaved some triangles

    now with the loops around the elbows and knee joints for when she gets rigged she is sitting at 541 triangles

    thanks for all the help 9skulls

    zoeylowtriangles.jpg

    here is the head close up like you asked
    zoeyheadtriangles.jpg


    i recently did a zoey too (but ran out of steam at the hands) which might be handy reference. she came in at *looks* 556 triangles.
    zoey007.png
    i could post some ortho wires if you care?
    and a turnaround to see what silhouette does:
    https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/448525/keep/Polycount/zoey007.mov
    You should definately add a few polies to the head, but not so much to define the shape of the lips as that's a rather small detail. the pointy chin is something that will show much more, maybe add some earplanes too?
    Her bum is really pointy, but by the looks of the wireframe you seem to have a loop there so you can easily round it out.

    try to grab some screenshots from ingame and look at her curves, she looks quite boxy now (really straight arms, square chest) and here's s picture too http://www.ocgungame.net/skins/images/screenshots/zoey.jpg

    her neck is really thin and long, and the collar should be more slanted.

    lastly the pose looks rather stiff.

    keep at it though, at least you got unto the texturing stage!
  • neosorcerer
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    neosorcerer polycounter lvl 10
    Cool stuff Ozma, especially the ninja, you should make a pirate next and then make them fight!

    I told my guys to get to work on building that tower but they just keep goofing off :(
    2010_02_16_loveandwar.jpg
  • Snader
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    Snader polycounter lvl 15
    itismario wrote: »
    you're zoey rapes mine?
    get your steamy fanservice here ladies and gentlemen! hot zoey on zoey action!

    itismario wrote: »
    any chance you can post the quaded version?

    that was the quaded version =P i did a lot of triangulation to get the best shapes.
    but i went back just now and cleaned her up + finished the hands.
    also, if i were you, i'd just texture in the pant fold, quickly saves you a couple dozen of polies, and hardly gives any work unwrapping...

    L4Dzoey_676-notex.png
    turntable: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/448525/3d/L4Dzoey_676-notex.mov
    now exactly 600 polies, and 38 per gun. (yes thats over 500 but just say the average is about 230 per model and not ask questions)
  • hawken
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    hawken polycounter lvl 19
    it may be 600 polygons but how many triangles is that?

    This thread is more for small items and advice on polycount reduction techniques. Your model is moving more toward a mid range player model and would probably now be better serviced by it's own thread.

    Or flying the nest, one might say. ;)
  • OzMa
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    @neosorcerer: Haha that's a cool story of love and dead man! Maybe I will make the pirate to fight with the ninja :D

    But at the moment...

    autumnspirit.jpg
  • Bruno Afonseca
    @hawken - Instead of setting a triangle limit, why dont we just rename this thread to "handheld/flash game art"? A current gen barrel or sign or small prop would fit the polycount, but not the theme.
  • LoTekK
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    LoTekK polycounter lvl 17
    I agree with fonfa somewhat. 500 as a hard(ish) limit seems harsh.

    wip:
    dude1.png

    About 650 right now. I could get it down to 550 if I went with 4-sided arms and legs, but I like the addtional volume the extra sides give.

    neosorcerer: omg that is simply adorable. :D

    9skulls: that looks awesome. Love the crazy walkcycle. :D
  • Slaught
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    Slaught polycounter lvl 18
    Aaaw, but what about all those little low poly character doodles that don´t deserve their own thread?

    @loTekk
    Nice work!
  • 9skulls
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    9skulls polycounter lvl 13
    LoTekK Looking great as usual :) What's your texture size? I like how his facial area looks sharp 'n' crispy even though it's hand painted!

    ANON REQUESTS WIRES!
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