Juan Hinojosa: The Order 1886

I have been looking at some assets created by 3D artist Juan Hinojosa who worked on the game The Order: 1886 (2015). The game has a visual aesthetic that is similar to what I am aiming to achieve:

STONE, P. (2015). The Order 1886: Mainstreet. [Online Image] Available at: http://polycount.com/discussion/149706/rad-environment-team-the-order-1886-art-dump [09/04/2018].

STONE, P. (2015). The Order 1886: Plaza. [Online Image] Available at: http://polycount.com/discussion/149706/rad-environment-team-the-order-1886-art-dump [09/04/2018].

Juan has posted high poly ZBrush sculpts alongside their low poly counterparts. Some assets that I am particularly interested are the ornate detailed column capital and wall carvings. I'm still experimenting with my own surface transfer techniques so these serve as a good example of the quality I am aiming for.

High poly Zbrush sculpts:

Low poly models with high poly bakes:

You can see how Juan has managed to retain all the details of the high poly models on these low poly versions. The geometry is clean with the only drawback being the slightly jagged profiles of the model. Because they will be viewed from a distance this shouldn't be too noticeable.

With my Corinthian capital I am still trying to keep the geometry cleaner and the polycount lower. Looking at these examples I can see a few things I need to improve on. The wireframes have helped me to see how clean Juan's model is when compared to my own. The cylinder of the column in particular is much cheaper than my model and looks more convincing. I believe this is due to the way the model was created in ZBrush as it lets you move easily between higher and lower subdivision levels allowing for creating accuracy when aligning the high poly sculpt onto the low poly base mesh. I want to start using ZBrush more in my workflow as you can create detailed assets faster and yield better results with the surface transfer.