All the time
Going off the back of my synth project I wanted to have a little more practice on improving my current skill set with photorealistic modeling, so I decided to have a go at recreating one of my watches. I don't know why I picked the most complicated one but I’m glad I did as it really helped me to get more efficient with my modeling skills.
I tried a new technique for creating the complicated interior shapes. Namely, I drew the components in Adobe Illustrator and imported them to Houdini via the Trace SOP. This gave me the outlines for each internal element which I was able to extrude to the correct thickness. This made the modeling process not only considerably faster but incredibly accurate. I modeled a few of the internal elements manually such as the cogs, as I was able to do it procedurally to get the correct amount of teeth quickly.
It took me a few attempts to work out the correct procedure for making the primary shape for the outer watch frame, but once I had my head around it, the same technique could be used for any future project involving watches. I found working on a very low resolution and blocky starting shape, then iterating higher levels of detail to be the most efficient way of doing it. One of the details that adds to the photorealism is making sure to be accurate with the edges of the watch. Specifically making sure to pay close attention to where there are harder sharp edges as opposed to the more predominant rounded areas.
I used a lot of textures to build up the slightly worn look, adding fingerprints and the odd scratch. I could’ve not added those details to make the watch look pristine and new but I found that it really adds to the photorealism with imperfections. It’s also really satisfying the way the light bounces off the surface where it isn’t entirely perfect.
Below is a render of the main watch body before I added the strap components, I have a system in place where I can add in whatever style of strap I like but for the final render on my showreel I went for the one it came with.
As always, a tidy scene file, is a happy scene file!