I have had some experience in the past in this area, but feel that I have been unable to really devote the kind of time needed to do it well.
For many reasons I have always liked the idea of loft apartments, so I set off to google to get some reference material, and I am fairly certain that I hit the mother-load. Full, high res floor-plan (nearly architectural quality) and a panoramic web app (virtual tour) of the same apartment to boot!
My intentions for this piece are 4 fold. 1); to brush up on my interior modeling skills, going from floor-plan to full model. 2); revisit my previously failed attempt of cleanly laying out UVs of an interior space. 3); take my first stab at soft-edge modeling (ie furniture and such). 4); End up with something of demo quality in a reasonable time frame, and with a pleasing aesthetic. (Oh, and a possible 5th intention of living out my secret desire to be an interior decorator.)
I currently have about 7 hours into the modeling phase of things and am up to about 150 quads. I have nearly finished the base mesh, but the ceiling will add a considerable number of polys without an easy way to fake the look.
I am unsure how extreme I intend to go with the textures. I plan on filling in one version of the room with a modern theme, hanging art pieces, modern furniture/ decorations, and etc. But I am unsure if I want to also attempt a texture/lighting run with a dirty/slob-ish theme. I suppose I will just wait and see how it goes.
All of the modeling work is in Maya, and I am considering doing a full material pass and lighting rig to get some high quality renders before I take everything to Unity. If anyone has any feedback on whether or not this is a good use of time, please let me know.
Either way, I want to get an ambient occlusion pass from Maya and incorporate that into my Unity Materials. I have experimented with this in the past, but with mediocre results. Hopefully this time I will have a more pleasing outcome.
I will keep you all posted on how things are coming along throughout the process.
The following are renders and screen shots from Maya. No textures have been applied, and the lighting is not even close to being finalized.
Screen shot with walls (base mesh), main floor, bedroom floor, and (high poly beveled cube for size estimation) bed mesh selected.
Low quality render from above the bedroom area, looking into the kitchen/living space.
Low quality render Looking into the bedroom area.
Low quality render looking into the kitchen from the living space.
A much higher quality render taken after I finished modeling the refrigerator, kitchen counter-tops, sink and faucet. Lighting and shadows are coming from a single directional light.... I do NOT intend on keeping this lighting. It is simply being used to show of the refrigerator a bit better.
Current poly counts:
The base mesh is approximately 3105 polygons (including interior walls, both floors,wall pillars, ceiling, kitchen island, and all cabinets and handles) I am referring to this as the 'base mesh'
kitchen appliances: refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, and kitchen faucet = 1562 polygons
bedroom furniture: mattress, bed frame, storage drawers, handles, and all closet pieces (without hangers) = 1906 polygons
total = 6573 polygons
