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[func_Mathias]

So here's the first model I've made from scratch and gotten 100% finished for source, I really don't have much prior experience with max and this is one of three advanced things I've made, the other things are just small test sort of stuff. Though you can debate if a cup is advanced or not it was quite advanced for me, with discovering things I "needed" to fix and make better. I've learnt surprisingly much from this model, both about modelling and Wall Worm. Wall Worm has come in really handy for making everything from exporting the model to adding bodygroups easier and efficient. I can just imagine the pain of setting up and recompiling everything manually, I'm really happy there is a tool such as Wall Worm.

The model itself is the base cup with some bodygroups which is a lid and two different straws. This model also has colorable straws, you can go into a vmt to change the color or if you're using it in Gmod you can use the color tool on it. It also has around 17 skins of popular drinks and a few parodies. As said in the title it's WAY higher quality than it needs to be, with about 3k triangles and 2048x1024 textures, textures alone making a file size of 20+MB. Big thanks to Rush_Freak which made most of the skins. Enough talk tho, here's some pictures.







This model is supposed to be finished, but if there's anything that could make it significantly better please do tell.
Thanks again for the awesome tools Shawn.

[wallworm]

It looks great!

What is the goal with this particular model? If it is to be a to-scale prop that only sits a few units high, then the resolution of the mesh and textures are pretty excessive. But if the intent is to be used for machinima/filming and/or for an oversized cup it could be appropriate.

Some things you can consider:

Reducing Tri-count:

An easy way to do this is to use the ProOptimizer plugin or the MultiRes modifier. There is a bug in MultiRes in some versions of Max. For ProOptimizer, turn on the option to keep textures. This may or may not help and of course reduces the actual topology... so if you only want the lid/straw to lose mesh density then explore the tools in these modifiers that allow you to remove only in desired selections.

Another thing you can do to reduce the tri-count is to bake some of the more subtle details into normal maps. For example, the lid has detail that could be captured in a normal map. For this, look up Render To Texture and the Projection Modifier in the Max docs.

Reduce Texture Size:

If the model is a tiny prop in the scene, these textures could be reduced significantly. The question is how close will the user get and how much better does such a high resolution bitmap look once compiled to VTF and in the game.

All of these are just food for thought. I don't know the final intention of the model.

In any event, keep it up and we'll want to see more of your journey!

[func_Mathias]

It's supposed to be a to-scale model and the first version of it was made for a video half a year ago. So the intention with it was to have a (stupidly) detailed model for movie making in source(mostly Gmod and sfm), being able to get really close without looking bad and having detail with geometry instead of textures, some of the cause for that too is because uv-mapping is still a little scary though it shouldn't have been very hard.

I do want to use this for a future map, that's some of the reason i actually finished it though it is quite a bit over the top. I might make another version that's a little more optimised with 1/2 or 1/4 of the texture that's more for gameplay purposes though I still want to keep a lot of the modelled details, just need to make sure to not use it too much and possibly add some lod when youre just a few feet away.

I'll definetly try to check out some of those plugins and see how they work, thanks for your thoughts!

[Infidel]

I would say this is a fantastic looking model. Yes, it is much higher in detail than necessary for such a small model in a Source engine. Yes, it could be worked on from that standpoint by creating a low poly version and overlaying the high poly image onto it which would create the look of all the detail on the first model giving the lower cost model a similar appearance.

Due to copyright/ trademark laws I would not release this for use with brand names on it. Instead, the parodies would be great for that.

Over all the craftsmanship on this looks great and complete. Really good work. Keep it up and keep sharing.

P.S. Don't thank Shawn! :o  His head is already so big that all the hair has fallen out!!  :P

[KevinLongtime]

Looks very good! Love the detail in such a seemingly "simple" object