Info on how PD CGI'd the cars

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Falango
Highly doubt there are 50 modelers. There are probably more game designers and programmers than modelers. I'd guess at 25 modelers at the most. Remember those 140 people aren't all artists. There's HR, directors, supervisors, and the technical side of the games.
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Anyone feel like firing up prologue to look at the credits to find out haw many car modelers are on the team? Actually, I will and I will report back.

Update: As of the making of Prologue there were only 31 car modelers. After doing the math at with a rate of 6 months per car for 5 years it would equate to 310 cars.
 
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scooterlord
I think they used all techniques in order to make the cars. To the ones they had access to along with their owners permission they could be laser-scanned, others modeled, others from cad files. Depends. As for the number of polys, most of their time is actually spent optimizing to get the best results on a smooth surface/low poly count ratio.
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Yeah I tink they pretty much did what they had to do on a case by case basis. If they could get CAD info, definitely the best and easiest way. If not, laser scan, accurate but still takes some manual work afterwords to work it into useable assets. If not possible to laser scan, then just manually create everything from scratch in a 3D modelling program. Certainy time consuming and least accurate.

minihulkster
Your work is awesome:tup:. I think there are about 40 car modelers on the team and it has been said that it takes 6 months to model the cars, so it works out to be 400 in 5 years. So I do not know why there are only 200.
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It's possible they haven't been full speed go the whole time... they may have been defining the standards and levels to which they wanted to go in the beginning.
 
Devedander
It's possible they haven't been full speed go the whole time... they may have been defining the standards and levels to which they wanted to go in the beginning.
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Yes, the first stages of development is planning which would likely be the reason. I assume the modelers were able to continue during the development of GTPSP.
 
Falango and scooterlord, amazing modeling you both.
The car all dirt made me tought it was a Dirt(the game) screenshot.

And the Hayabusa is amazing, it really looks real, and when you zoom it, it gets even better. The only thing that doesn't look the same is the back seat protector, it's too high or the tail is too short. But it's amazing buddy, really amazing.
 
You must remember:

1) they said that it takes 6months of work hours

if you count out the weekends you get 960hours (in 6 months) and 1440 is needed - that is 2 extra months

over 5 years you get 20month ~ deficit (just by week ends, and if you count vacations...) and bam! - that's your extra 2 years

2) in the creating process there are times that they have to wait (for reference data etc) and you don't want to start modeling a car that you don't have a license for
 
Shinu
You must remember:

1) they said that it takes 6months of working hours

with week ends you get 960hours and 1440 is needed that is 2 extra months

over 5 years you get 20month ~ deficit (just by week ends and if you count vacations...) and bam! - that's your 2 years

2) in creating process there are times that they have to wait (for reference data etc)
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Game development is not like a regular job. They do not get much time off and work very long hours. Sometimes even through the night. If you have ever seen PD studios you would see that they even have a resting area there for the developers.
 
Ya it's the same in film too. I'm working at a visual effects studio, and we are working 60 hrs a week right now to finish up this movie.

In terms of all the calculations, you can only speculate. They haven't been modeling cars since day one, right up until today. The modeling for all the cars is probably finished, and for the most part, probably finished atleast 6 months ago. That, and they wouldn't be modeling some cars until they receive the license to do so. Some cars take longer to model than others too. Something like the Zonda R would have taken much longer than the old Fiat 500. It's a complex job, but I can only dream of working at PD.
 
PD is high budget studio the resting areas are for brakes ( in japan they even do exercises between lunch brakes) and they do get vacations. I think its even illegal to work 24/7.

And if you watch there tours and so on, there's lots of opportunity's for slacking off.

It all depends on the management.
 
I'm sure the modelers work on more than one car at a time too. As one car is awaiting approval or review, another is probably on the go.
 
minihulkster
Um no. Look at 45 seconds in.
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It lists 2 persons more.
31 3D car modelers + 4 3D car modelers directors who might have been modeling cars themselves too.
If they worked full time for five years, they should have been able to complete at least 350 completely different cars (if we take for granted that each car takes 6 months in average to complete).
 
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As I said before, I highly doubt the car modelers have been working on the cars right up until today. Who says those car modelers have all worked for the full 5 years? I highly doubt a third of them have. It's an industry where people come and go often. I still am amazed at how they got 200+ premium cars done in that time, as well as giving us nicer versions of previous GT cars too. We can't forget that. On top of that, they have to do different versions of each car too. The one for in race, and the one for photomode.
 
80 million dollar budget. That has to be gone somewhere.
 
if you count gt5p and gt5 pre orders then its practically already covered.
 
Well, let's not forget that the modeler's job is not all about CARS. A lof of things have to be modeled; tracks, photo shoot stages, people, background objects... and that's a lot of work.

My best guess is that the modelers are divided in teams; some work the exteriors, some the interiors, so that they keep the level of work equal to all cars, because everyone has his/her unique modeling techniques.

Thanks for the comments about the model. It was as accurate as I could make it... owning the motorbike actually helps :)

Modeling something you do NOT own though gets really tough though, making things out of crappy reference photos... LOL! I remember I was even looking at ebay for closeups of spare parts just in case I found something I couldnt make out of reference photos...

http://scooterlord.gr/images/charger4.jpg
http://scooterlord.gr/images/charger3.jpg

..working on a LOT tougher stuff these days :D
 
First of all, hello everyone.:) First time poster.

There is one consideration that i haven't seen mentioned when it comes to modelling time versus number of cars.

A lot of the premium cars didn't even exist 5 years ago.(That we have seen) Can't model a car that doesn't exist!

And i bet kaz being the perfectionist would wait for the likes of the veyron, 458, zonda r ect, just so he could include them.

And has minihulkster alluded to, just planning on which existing cars to make premium could of taken many months.

I think the 5 years it has taken is really good comparing GT3 TO GT4 for example, which took 3.5 years.

Anyway, i'll stop babbling now!:dunce:
 
Yep, I get you. For me two of the hardest parts:

1) getting reference pictures
2) uv maping ant texturing
 
scooterlord
Well, let's not forget that the modeler's job is not all about CARS. A lof of things have to be modeled; tracks, photo shoot stages, people, background objects... and that's a lot of work.

My best guess is that the modelers are divided in teams; some work the exteriors, some the interiors, so that they keep the level of work equal to all cars, because everyone has his/her unique modeling techniques.[...]
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I think the "Landscape Design" and the "Landscape Design Directors" credited in GT5P are the modelers in charge of the scenery and courses. They appear to be completely different people from the car modelers.
 
UVing was not fun on the first few approaches. I don't find it too tough anymore, and it definitely doesn't take as long as it used to. In the credits for GT5P, the section specifically says Car Modelers. Yes there are tracks, parts, people, etc, that need to be modeled, but those numbers above are specific to car modelers. Most modelers specialize in one type of modeling too. I myself specialize in environments and vehicles. At the caliber of skill you find at PD, they would hire people with a more focused specialty. Possibly even down to one person modeling only a certain brand of vehicles, maybe because of their familiarity with them.

Reference pictures can be tough to get too, especially the right ones. I gathered atleast 200-250 reference images for the STi I did. I also started a Ferrari 458 Italia recently, and finding reference for that is very tough. That makes modeling to realism alot tougher.
 
UVing is not that hard as it is boring :D
 
scooterlord
Well, let's not forget that the modeler's job is not all about CARS. A lof of things have to be modeled; tracks, photo shoot stages, people, background objects... and that's a lot of work.

My best guess is that the modelers are divided in teams; some work the exteriors, some the interiors, so that they keep the level of work equal to all cars, because everyone has his/her unique modeling techniques.

Thanks for the comments about the model. It was as accurate as I could make it... owning the motorbike actually helps :)

Modeling something you do NOT own though gets really tough though, making things out of crappy reference photos... LOL! I remember I was even looking at ebay for closeups of spare parts just in case I found something I couldnt make out of reference photos...

http://scooterlord.gr/images/charger4.jpg
http://scooterlord.gr/images/charger3.jpg

..working on a LOT tougher stuff these days :D
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WOW.

PD should hire you! Awesome stuff.
 
:) heh! Thanks people.. too bad Greece doesn't absorb its talents but rather wastes them... I never got the chance to professionaly use 3D, although I'd love to.
 
Knowing PD those over 200 will be somthing like 300+ .
 
scooterlord
I think they used all techniques in order to make the cars. To the ones they had access to along with their owners permission they could be laser-scanned, others modeled, others from cad files. Depends. As for the number of polys, most of their time is actually spent optimizing to get the best results on a smooth surface/low poly count ratio.

I am a 3d modeler myself, the suzuki hayabusa I modeled was 500000 polys (around gts poly count) and I actually spend 6 months modeling it, so what those polyphony guys are saying is true.

http://scooterlord.gr/images/hayabusa1.jpg
http://scooterlord.gr/images/hayabusa2.jpg
http://scooterlord.gr/images/hayabusa3.jpg

So 140 people working there, 50 being modelers, game been worked for 5 years, thats 50ppl x 2 cars per year x 5 years = around 500 cars... considering there are only 200 premium models, they are either more thorough that we expect... or there are less modelers :P
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Wow! Amazing job. TT2 ready if you ask me! :dopey:
 
scooterlord
I think they used all techniques in order to make the cars. To the ones they had access to along with their owners permission they could be laser-scanned, others modeled, others from cad files. Depends. As for the number of polys, most of their time is actually spent optimizing to get the best results on a smooth surface/low poly count ratio.

I am a 3d modeler myself, the suzuki hayabusa I modeled was 500000 polys (around gts poly count) and I actually spend 6 months modeling it, so what those polyphony guys are saying is true.

http://scooterlord.gr/images/hayabusa1.jpg
http://scooterlord.gr/images/hayabusa2.jpg
http://scooterlord.gr/images/hayabusa3.jpg

So 140 people working there, 50 being modelers, game been worked for 5 years, thats 50ppl x 2 cars per year x 5 years = around 500 cars... considering there are only 200 premium models, they are either more thorough that we expect... or there are less modelers :P
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I believe I remember Kaz saying that they make 50 cars per year in an interview. I don't have a link though so I could be wrong.
 
scooterlord, send an e-mail to PD or EA sports and show your skills. They might hire you. but the downside is they would make you to move near their HQ.

Good luck and make it into an oppurtunity!(spelling)
 
andy63
scooterlord, send an e-mail to PD or EA sports and show your skills. They might hire you. but the downside is they would make you to move near their HQ.

Good luck and make it into an oppurtunity!(spelling)
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Unfortunately, since he does not speak Japanese(I'm assuming) they would not likely hire him because it would be to difficult to have him work with the rest of the team.
 
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