How long would you say it takes from making the first polygon to having a finished mesh (I think that’s the term)? I know it probably depends on the complexity of the model so could we use, say, the vent grill as an example, and that microscope as another example?
Well it literally depends on the model. There were not many changes to a simple grill model pictured with the TC anteroom vent (anteroom vent took 8 hrs). I basically converted and UV mapped it ( it is the untextured model to the left of the TC grill). For like the powersource model maybe 20 hours +. There are 5 UVs and multiple revisions, rebakes of the AO and texture changes. Or like the cabinet models… once I got the basic shapes and proportions set, the first might take 5 hours and the rest 30 min. For the microscope I need to determine the detail level I want on the cylinders, 6, 8 ,10 ,12+ sides and how much other detail I will want in the model. Most models in our original mod were very low poly. Over the last 11 years the requirements have changed and so will the poly counts. I can’t tell you the exact poly count of the microscope but its probably around 7k. Any model with cylinders over 6 sides will really shoot the poly count up.
So basically, if it’s a good day, you’d be able to make 1, maybe 2 unique models. That… actually doesn’t sound too unreasonable, since even though the number of models used in Black Mesa is in the thousands, considering there are similar ones, there are some from HL2, and all that’s spread out among at least a few modelers, I can see that it could get done.
Fascinating!
I work full time plus so your math won’t add up. I’m lucky most weeks to get one done. There usually aren’t more than 4 modelers working on something at one. time
I like to think my math would add up… if you guys were developing full-time. But you’re not. Everyone is doing this in their free-time. So of course it would take much much longer than what I guessed.
Kinda slipped my mind. 