[WIP] Newbie pieces

[hamzaaa]

Hi everyone,

as you can see from my post sum, I am kinda new to this forum. I am also kinda new to the 3D modeling scene and I wanted to share my first ever model with you to get some critiques. Don't hold back, I can take it :)

Here is the reference I am using:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Registrierkasse_Anker_20er-Jahre.gif

http://www.requisitenreindl.de/images/registrierkasse_big_1.jpg

You may notice that I am not sticking to my reference perfectly. The images below are the high poly model. I am planning to bake this to a low poly. I also want to add those nice ornaments from reference picture2 (propably via Photoshop because I am not experienced with scultping at all) and texture this thing.
I do all this just for learning purpose because I am pretty newbie ^^

http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/preview_viewport01.jpg
http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/preview_viewport02.jpg
http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/preview_viewport03.jpg
http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/preview_viewport04.jpg
http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/preview_viewport_wires.jpg

thanks for reading!

[hamzaaa]

Some update. Sorry for the crappy previous renders ^^

http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_prev01.jpg
http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_prev02.jpg

[Twister3]

That is a nice looking register!

One thing I'd probably change is the size of the buttons. You can see in your reference that the buttons almost touch each other.
The other thing is the lock on the bottom. In your reference its actually built into the wooden panel but in your model it is sticking out.

Are you going to model the display as well or are you going to leave it as a big hole?
Do you have any plans to bake and texture it? I'm sure it would look cool with all that shiny material!

Oh and welcome to the 3D modeling scene! :)

[hamzaaa]

Hey,

Well, I am not sticking to the reference to the fullest. I am just taking some inspiration and model like I feel it looks good. And I feld that the lock sticking out may add more detail and break up the big plane areas. ^^
I don't know yet if I will model out the display and I am planing to bake it to a lowpoly and texture it.
thanks a lot for your answer! :)

[hamzaaa]

some progress

http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_prev03.jpg

[hamzaaa]

small update, some things look a little too shaded and extruded because they are floated (the big handle where it is attached to the cashbox and the lock where the key is sticked into)

http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_prev05.jpg

[Twister3]

Why did you use floaters if you don't mind me asking?

I mean those surfaces aren't bent so I imagine it would be rather easy to model in the round shapes of the handle and the lock.

That way (without floaters) you won't get problems when you bake AO for example.

[hamzaaa]

I don't mind if you ask. Well, I just thought it would be easier rather than cutting into the surface and stuff. As I am pretty new to modeling I chose this easier solution. But you have a point regarding normal maps. I will try really modeling it into the surface. Thanks mate ;)

[jordan.kocon]

Nice work man, no crits, it's a great looking highpoly model

[TylerFluharty]

This is looking great to me bud.
Those renders are really clean, are you using Maya or Max?

[hamzaaa]

Hey guys,

thanks a lot! I am using 3ds Max 2012 :)

[hamzaaa]

Hey guys,

finally after some time an update. I called the highpoly quits and tried to bake this thing. It took some time because this was my first low poly modeling + bake ever!! I didn't do any photoshop cleanup etc. yet. If you see some things I need to improve, please tell me but in a newbie friendly manner :)

The lowpoly has 5515 tris. I tried to keep the roundness of that piece but I think the tricount is too high but I don't have the experience, what do you think?

I took the screens from marmoset, somehow when I added an AO the model just became grey and the AO didn't seem to work, do you know what's the problem?

Screens and Wires: (sorry for the kinda crappy light setup)

http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_bake001.jpg
http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_bake002.jpg
http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_bake003.jpg
http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_bake_wires001.jpg
http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_bake_wires002.jpg

Enjoy and thanks in advance for your advice ;)

[hamzaaa]

Hey,

I updated the geometry and I am now left with a Tricount of 3798. Do you think this is a more appropriate tricount? I punched down the Handles and some other pieces and cleared some surfaces to be flat and let the normal map do its job. There are still errors in the Normalmap which require fixing, but I will do this later.

http://www.b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_bake_opt001.jpg
http://www.b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_bake_opt_wires001.jpg



Thanks a lot for your help! :)

[hamzaaa]

Hey guys,

yet another update. I punched down the tricount by applying tips and critiques I got around the web. As you can see the buttons are now only planes which will later look correct using an alpha map.
The tricount is now 2417.
http://www.b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_bake_opt_wire002.jpg
http://www.b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_bake_opt_wire003.jpg

Now I think I can call the normal mapping done and I will start texturing. I will of course show you the progress. :)

[hamzaaa]

Yet another update. Before starting to create the diffuse I wanted to add more detail to the normal map. I did that using Photoshop and nDo:

http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_normaldetail.jpg

[hamzaaa]

Weeee another small update. I blocked out some colors and tested out first diffuse and specular maps. What do you think of the colors etc?

Remember the reference: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a0/Registrierkasse_Anker_20er-Jahre.gif

I am not sticking to it 100% but I will try to mirror at least the main body.

http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_texture_test.JPG

I need your opinions!!

[n88tr]

is that red stuff supposed to be wood?
if so it looks nothing like wood

[EmAr]

I think it's possible to make wood look like that with transparent paints etc. It didn't look unfamiliar to me.

[myles]

Doesn't look far off polished wood to me, n88tr's just being a harsh ass.
Think there might be a tad to much purple in there, and you could do with a few lighter red highlights in the diffuse. Also introduce some scratches into the diffuse (as if the polish had been rubbed off)

[hamzaaa]

No it's not wood. If you look at the reference you see that it's like tinted, brushed metal or something.

@myles: yeah I will definitely add scratches and all that cool stuff. This is just a first quick test. But thanks for the advice :D

[Oniram]

brushed metal? get out of here thats totally wood :P you can tell from the wear of it. and generally from the wood pattern. lol

here's some more references for you to clarify.

http://www.reklame-auktion.de/03_reklame/img/Rc0547.jpg

http://www.mz-web.de/ks/images/mdsBild/1260693542883l.jpg

http://www.reklame-auktion.de/03_reklame/img/Rc0158.jpg

also (for next time): dont make your edges so tight when doing the high poly.

[Ruz]

seems like you have just 'registered' on polycount:)

[hamzaaa]

Oh damn, I have to apologize. I found some more ref pictures and you are right... it's wood. Shame on me I bow to thy feet ^^
Okay attempt number 2. How do you think the wood is looking? ^^

[Jackablade]

The base and cashdraw are wooden in most of the shots. The rest looks like metal with a tacky fake wooden veneer over the top, hence why it doesn't really look like real wood. It's particularly obvious in that third reference shot where a lot of it has worn off the curved bit on the left hand side.

[hamzaaa]

I found some more screenshots on the web which make me more tending to think that it really is wood, but I am still a little unsure ^^

http://img1.classistatic.com/cps/bln/110217/750r7/9258cd0_20.jpeg

http://img1.classistatic.com/cps/bln/110217/749r6/0185emf_20.jpeg

http://img1.classistatic.com/cps/bln/110217/749r2/13868i6_20.jpeg

[Xaltar]

I seriously don't buy that this is your first ever model. If it is then take this as a compliment if it isn't then try not to say things like that in your posts, it just makes you look like an attention seeker. Its looking very good on its own so far, finish it up so we can see how it came out.

[hamzaaa]

Well, before I made this model I did tutorials on modeling, baking and stuff only. So this is the first model I ever made completely on my own. I don't write this stuff to impress people or to get attention, but to let people know that I am a newbie and that they treat me like that, meaning to not assume advanced things I may don't be aware of and providing critiques and tips in a way, a newbie (which I seriously am) can understand. ;)

[Xaltar]

Ah then maybe just make that distinction next time, you have to bare in mind that a lot of newbies find their way here and have not done any tutorials or the like and for them to see someone claiming this is their first model and it looks this good is particularly demoralizing. :) Great work on your first self concieved model. Its nice to see the attention to detail you are putting in. Keep up the good work Hamzaaa, you are off to a great start.

[Jackablade]

There might be parts of it, like the very top that are made of chipboard, but I guarantee that that entire console part is made of metal with a veneer glued over it. You can see just from the way it's constructed.

It doesn't really matter one way or the other. As long as you match the specularity and where it's been knocked about and rubbed thin, you should have a suitably kitsch looking cash register.

[hamzaaa]

@xaltar: Thanks a lot mate, I appreciate it! :)

@Jackablad: Yeah you are right. If it's metal, wood or whatnot, as long as I match it closely to the reference I will be fine :)

[camza]

I'm going to take it one step further with the whole wood/not wood thing and throw in another contender:

Bakelite

It was the world's first fully synthetic plastic and everything at the time was made from it. It's rarely used now today, probably because it's a thermo-set plastic, aka it sets hard when heated once and can never be reformed afterwards, unlike more common thermoplastics that can be melted and reshaped till the cows come home.

But the best thing... It kinda looks like wood:

https://www.apexgunparts.com/images/Pistol%20Grip,%20Bakelite,%20VZ58.JPG

...Oh! Yeah good model by the way.

[hamzaaa]

Some texturing progress. I didn't add some specular detail yet, I just added in the colors to define reflectivity of the materials.

http://www.b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_diffuse01.jpg

[hamzaaa]

Another update. I am still working on the main body and I started with the wooden base. Still no specular detail and some parts (e.g. the black wooden handles) are too relective. I will fix this later in the spec map.

http://www.b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_diffuse02.jpg

[hamzaaa]

Update time! I pretty much finished the diffuse (I think) and now I am going to start doing the specular map. I hope you like what you see so far, I am open to C&C as always! :D

http://www.b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_diffuse_final001.JPG
http://www.b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_diffuse_final002.JPG
http://www.b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_diffuse_final003.JPG
http://www.b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_diffuse_final004.JPG

[Twister3]

That cash box is coming along great! I really like the look of the wood and the brass details. Now let that spec map shine :P

The four screws near the "display" look a bit distorted to me. Other than that I have nothing to crit.

[hamzaaa]

Phew had a hard time doing the spec and gloss map today. Also I had a little trouble to find a good light setup in marmoset. Here is what I got now. I think it looks pretty decent and if I don't get and devastating critiques I think I will leave it at that because I want to get finished ^^

http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_diff_spec001.jpg
http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_diff_spec002.jpg
http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_diff_spec003.jpg
http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_diff_spec004.jpg

I tried to create a turntable but I haven't found a good method to do it yet..

cheers and thanks for all your comments so far :)

[Xaltar]

Beautiful work. Only suggestion would be to maybe add some ink stains and other random wear on the top of the base, maybe someone scratched thier name in the wood. Possibly also have the wood grain go horizontally on the top piece, it looks a little odd the way it is atm.

Great to watch this thing from start to finish.

[hamzaaa]

FINAL UPDATE!!
I know I could work on that piece like forever and there are always things to find which could be improved, but I am proud and satisfied with and finally I call it done!

Some trackback: The cashbox was modeled highpoly and lowpoly in 3D Studio Max 2012, baked with 3D Studio Max 2012, normal detail was added using nDo, textured in Adobe Photoshop CS4 and rendered realtime in 8Monkeylabs' Marmoset Toolbag.
Tricount is 2417, texture sizes are all 2048x2048. Working time was about one and a half month.

http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_final003.jpg
http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_final002.jpg
http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_final001.jpg
http://b3d.frechi.de/3D/showcase/cashbox_final004.jpg

Thanks to everyone from game-artist.net, gameartisans.org, polycount.com, nextgenhardsurface.com and eat3d.com who provided crits and comments, you guys rock!!
Special thanks to Pac_187!

[Twister3]

You can create pretty decent turntables in marmoset itself. It's hidden under the "view" tab.

[Pac_187]

Great work!

The time we invested into Skype sessions and chatting was worth it :P
I have to admit that you are better at textures than models, so you might want to keep an eye on that ;)

[hamzaaa]

hey thanks pac. Damn I just see that I forgot the alpha channel in the final screenshots.. well my bad.. ^^

EDIT: Fixed