Hi Fellow Polycounters!

Now before I post what I've done, please keep in mind that this is the first model I've started which is even mildly complicated and doesn't just resemble a box in some way (See my portfolio in my sig, you'll understand!)

I found this amazing concept by Edd Mattinian for 'Earthrise' and was eager to try modelling the racer on the left:



Here's what I've got so far. I've really been doing what I think is best up till now since I haven't done anything like this before. I'm starting by making the low poly, but not sure whether this is best.





I'm pretty stumped on how I'm going to make the area in front of the seat, i.e. the pipes and bar that comes across there. That's why I'm posting here at this stage.

Nice start!

I think somebody else here on the forums is doing the same vehicle as well.

For the pipes area, you could model the pipes themselves and have the area underneath be flat, and just bake some details in there. Or if you don't want to have that much geo the whole area could be flat, and maybe only the one that sticks out at the top is modeled, and bake the pipes down onto the flat area.

Either way, good luck!

For doing the pipes and bars, splines will be your best friend. Draw them out using the line tool and then just turn on the "render in viewport" option. You'll be able to adjust the pipes in real time, both shape and density.

Looking forward to your progress!

I don't know if lowpoly is the best way to go first. I know this is a legit way of starting but it is usually when you know your tricount and you need to get the silhouette down with your tricount first and then match it with the highpoly.

At the moment you are not even sure what you are modeling. If you were to start with the highpoly, you could do some research on real world objects and explore your options... get all your details and shapes in there and then tear down your highpoly for your lowpoly.

A typical current gen workflow is

1. Reference (because concepts are not usually fully developed and you want to try and ground it in reality by modeling things similar to real world objects. When concepts are modeled straight from the concept, they lack believability and the model tends to lack in detail.)
2. Block out (used to get proportions and shape and an idea of how you will approach each piece.)
3. Highpoly
4. Lowpoly
5. Unwrap
6. Cast
7. Texture


Some great starting points for highpoly...
First 3 are free, you just have to register for them.

http://area.autodesk.com/tutorials/i...mentals_part_1
http://area.autodesk.com/tutorials/i...mentals_part_2
http://area.autodesk.com/tutorials/i...mentals_part_3
http://vimeo.com/10941211
http://eat3d.com/dozer_part1
http://cg.tutsplus.com/tutorials/aut...fi-prop-day-1/
http://cg.tutsplus.com/tutorials/aut...fi-prop-day-2/

Keep up the good work! I love your dedication.

Hey! I'm modeling the same vehicle too.
Everything that jeremiah said is what I was basically about to say.
I'm approaching the vehicle with sub-d modeling, which is basically modeling it high poly first then break it down to a low poly.

I've already learned tons from this hover bike and im sure you will too!

Good luck!

Thanks for the replies guys! Sorry I haven't updated yet, having a bit of a hard time with university. Since my course is just 'Games Design' it's not specialised on 3D, meaning I have about 381298 other projects to do as well as this.

@gsokol Thanks for the pipes advice Will get to that soon!

@Sean VanGorder I've tried this before but wasn't very successful, will watch some more videos and try again soon Thanks for the reply

@jeremiah_bigley Thanks Jeremiah, I might have to pick your brain in some way some time since the only way I've been taught is low ----> high poly. I really want to do the high poly first but might have to wait till my next project now since I've started this already!

@Cordell Felix Ahhh yours will be so much more badass than mine, your work is amazing. This is the first high poly object I've done and I'm struggling a bit!

cant wait! those are some great concepts, i hope you nail it !! gogo!
make sure you stick to the concept well though!

Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted much! I'm really struggling with this, think I might have been too ambitious when I chose the concept. Never done anything properly high poly before so...

Well here's what I've got so far. It really sucks. I learnt how to do pipes.
It looks nothing like the concept and the normals are so fucked up they need counselling.

hey don't beat yourself up over it. i do agree, you could have bitten off more than you could chew. but assuming you are to continue with this...

can you post the high poly? it will be helpful for crits as its hard to go by at the moment. but its certainly lacking a lot of detail thats in the concept, i assume this is because you are new to high poly modelling and are struggling.

it seems you used a floater to indent that circular shape on the front, which could have easily been integrated into the model, so now you will be left with a lot of cleanup. also make sure you really taper in indentations, so when they bake down they are more apparent.

for the low poly, the topology looks a bit iffy, always focus purely on the silhouette, as everything else can be baked down. you have a lot of unnecessary edge loops.

keep at it, or have a break and revisit it

Thanks Snow, I totally agree with you. I'll post the high polys tomorrow because I have the added head ache that my laptop doesn't like running Maya when I have the window with the high poly mesh open! Just to make life more difficult!

I think I will take a break from it, I've ploughed hours into it already and it's not like I haven't learnt anything! I might make just a simple object and try to get that perfect first

Never give up. You've already increased your skill substantially from when you first started. It's what artists do. You don't simply start out amazing, you start out with amazing potential and work your way up to that point.

I look forward to seeing where this goes.

it may sound boring, but guns are always a great thing to start learning high pollies on, as they generally focus around basic square/cylindrical components and generally aren't as organic as this. that's if you're looking for some ideas on what else to practice on.

@Exversion Thanks man, yeah I've learnt a tonne so far Just a bit frustrating not having anything great to show for it! I'll stick at it don't worry!

@ Snow I was thinking of making a gun actually since theres some excellent concepts out there, might take your advice on that! Will post it in this thread if I do.