OLD WEST CART - MODEL DEVELOPMENT

          I am so glad I decided to develop this sheet - it has turned out great. The idea was to document each milestone in the model development. The image below speaks for itself. I must note, this sheet doesn't document the finished model, only the basic ambient-occlusion model.

    I am literally dumfounded that I managed to reach the standard of modeling I have, considering this is only my fourth attempt at using 3DS Max. However, the development wasn't a complete doddle. As I predicted, it was a case of trial and error.

STEP #1: I started with the main carriage, devloping each plank with four rescaled squares to develop an enclosed, basic carriage which used the ambient-occlusion lighting to achieve the level of detailing I expected from myself. The problem was that it may eventually cause my tri count to suffer (along with my processor).

STEP #2: I then used the same technique to develop the brackets that would wrap around the planks. Although this looked great and give the carriage depth and detail, the technique of using standard objects would become an inevitable problem.

STEP #3: Rather than using multiple rescaled standard objects to develop the carriage, I restarted the model from scratch using only one editable poly object. This was so that I could have each row of the carriage (and brackets) as separate objects which would make modeling and eventually texturing, more efficient. Finally, when referencing the main concept, I realised that the carriage was planned to have four separate rows of planks, and thus I added one more - rescaling each plank so that I kept the height of the carriage the same. I believe the restart, and the alterations, were successful choices. Referencing really does help!

STEP #4: Now that the carriage was completed at it's most basic form, I added in the seat, the front panel and the side ledges that would eventfully hold the barrels (not included in the tri count as my tutor thankfully told me). The seat is part of the first plank, achieved through polygon editing and face editing. At this point however, the seat had not been connected using the bridge tool and therefore the seat hadn't been completed. The front panel was fine at this point and would eventually hold the front section. The ledges on either side of the carriage are separate mirrored objects - again, developed through standard objects and some polygon editing to create the hinges (found beneath each ledge).

STEP #5: Here, I added in two things - the front section and the wheels (the most crucial part to the carriage). The front section was a mixture of various standard objects altered using rescaling and extrusion. After all parts were completed, I stitched them together, ensuring it was the same size as the original concept. Finally, I developed one single wheel which would be copied and re-sized - two large wheels at the back and two small wheels at the front. It was made of two cylinders for the center, one tube for the wheel, and eight cylinders for the spokes. Although high in polygons, they were successful. Considering they are the main attraction of the cart, they had to be high in detail. By this point the carriage was almost done, as this is the only part of the model that would be marked and included within the set tri count allowance.

STEP #6: At this stage, two things were done - one alteration to the front panel and the completion of the seat. The front panel looked too basic in context to the rest of the cart when rendering, and so I split it into two smaller parts to allow the lighting to magic the detail for me, even if it cost me a few more polygons. Finally, I completed the seat using the bridge tool, which posed some issues, giving the model five sided faces which, as my tutor tells me, is a no go zone.

STEP #7: Adding in the latch at the end of the front section, the storage sack at the back and resizing the wheels, I had finally completed the carriage and polished it to perfection, when compared against the original concept - a feet I considered impossible one week ago. Now, the carriage was technically complete, but it didn't match my original concept - so I continued on, even though my tri count had been surpassed (by 1000 tris to be exact...).

STEP #8: The canopy was my main worry when designing the cart. I thought its requirement for polygon editing would prevent me from modelling it to the standard I aimed for. However, it turned out to be a doddle and in developing just one side and mirroring it, put the cherry on the cake. Considering the canopy is iconic to the wild west cart, it really brought the entire model together. Now I just needed to add the barrels and some extra detail - as much as I wanted considering they weren't part of the tri count allowance the tutor set me.

STEP #9: The final stage of development shows the addition of the barrels and some loose dynamite sitting around and on the cart. It gives it that extra detail, whilst also finishing the last aspect of the original concepts design. I had perfectly translated the concept to a finished model. THANK GOD!

... Now all I needed to do was chisel it down below the tri count (1500), which was by this point, 3500 (mainly down to the canopy and the barrels).

Feel free to give constructive criticism (or compliments if you really need to) in the comment section below!

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