Week 30
Part 2
Today is final hand in for the year and I'm not completely sure how I feel about it. I can't decide if it's a good thing or a bad thing, maybe both. On one hand, its over. I can concentrate on creating projects for myself to really help further my development skills and push my knowledge to help with my course. One the other hand I feel extremely nervous for the outcome of this year and not having these project to focus on.
Also I can't say enough how proud of myself I really am, on how far I have came, progressed and learnt. Since it's the end of the year I guess I'm also full of thanks for it all. I honestly feel that I am extremely lucky to be able to be taught here at DMU because I've learnt so much fro my experiences here and from the Team that taught me.
I'm going to continue blogging over summer and doing project to push my abilities and improve them.
Friday, 24 April 2015
It's Done !
Week 30
End of year reflection part 1
I feel that this year has really helped mature my way of thinking and the way in which I go about completing tasks. Especially I feel when it comes to receiving constructive criticism. I didn’t understand that a tutor can’t mark work I haven’t provided proof of, that just because I have mentioned that I have done some work doesn’t mean it’s gradable. Since I then realized that my marks weren’t a personal thing, that they were there and given to help and push myself to improve my work and to eventually be able to do the job I want to do at the standard required. I was then able to take constructive criticism much better and was able to fully take in what feedback I was given and to follow it to improve my work, plus I then realized that the feedback doesn’t apply to that one project, that it applies to all future projects I do that it all helps create much better outcomes.
End of year reflection part 1
I feel that this year has really helped mature my way of thinking and the way in which I go about completing tasks. Especially I feel when it comes to receiving constructive criticism. I didn’t understand that a tutor can’t mark work I haven’t provided proof of, that just because I have mentioned that I have done some work doesn’t mean it’s gradable. Since I then realized that my marks weren’t a personal thing, that they were there and given to help and push myself to improve my work and to eventually be able to do the job I want to do at the standard required. I was then able to take constructive criticism much better and was able to fully take in what feedback I was given and to follow it to improve my work, plus I then realized that the feedback doesn’t apply to that one project, that it applies to all future projects I do that it all helps create much better outcomes.
For a personal action plan one of the very first things I feel should be a big part of it is to always create time scale plans for each project both personal and for academic use. Time management is definitely not a strong point for me, it is slowly getting much better and I’m no longer trying to complete projects on no spare time. Another aspect of my personal action plan is continue to practice photo shop, to improve my skills and knowledge to help create better outcomes and for future projects. Experimenting more with 3D assets and teaching myself better knowledge of using engines, which will give me an even better start for second year. Also I found it helped a lot to read books that looked into video games from its history, genres, and general knowledge.
Friday, 27 March 2015
Thinking about Zombies !
Week 26
For a while now I've been thinking about zombies a lot since in visual designs I've been looking at doing some designs for a Toyota truck that's been modified to help survive a zombie apocalypse. Also for my critical studies presentation assessment it's based on my own guide on how to survive a zombie apocalypse. I thought that this would be a fairly easy plan to come up with but the more I'm thinking about the more I'm realizing how hard this this and I in fact have no plan at all, just the plan of suicide since I wouldn't want to ever experience this type of thing in the first place.
Its the same for coming up with designs for my zombiefied Toyota truck. It's definitely not as easy as I thought, although it could be that I'm over thinking it all wanting it to be really good straight away type thing.
I've also realized that I still don't feel extremely nervous about my upcoming critical studies presentation. I proud of my self that I'm not as nervous and that I did my very first presentation last term at all in the first place, plus I think it also helps that I remind myself that giving presentations is going to be a huge part of my career in the industry so I'm going to have to get used to it.
Its the same for coming up with designs for my zombiefied Toyota truck. It's definitely not as easy as I thought, although it could be that I'm over thinking it all wanting it to be really good straight away type thing.
I've also realized that I still don't feel extremely nervous about my upcoming critical studies presentation. I proud of my self that I'm not as nervous and that I did my very first presentation last term at all in the first place, plus I think it also helps that I remind myself that giving presentations is going to be a huge part of my career in the industry so I'm going to have to get used to it.
Here are some pictures I found pretty cool and thought went well with my blog for today.
Sunday, 22 March 2015
Toyota Hand-in and Presentation is given !
Week 25
This week was spent finishing up my Toyota truck project which I feel went both well and a little bad. In general I feel that this project went fairly smooth and well, of course there are still things that need improvements but I’m pretty pleased with my final outcome. I think that some of the things that went well with this project are firstly that I feel I modeled efficiently being that I feel my end model represents my references well, it is pretty well proportioned and my tris have been evenly distributed. I’m not too happy with my textures if I’m honest and even though I feel they are ok I’d still change them. As my first few models were lacking a lot in the sense of the proportions, realistic shape and slightly flat looking, I took the decision with a week left to restart my project to really get the best end product I could as previous ones I didn’t feel were right. With this in mind I’m really happy with my mesh and time scales I planned for myself and feel I used it efficiently. By restarting my project I feel I’ve learnt a lot in general about the software and modelling vehicles which is highly beneficial.
Here are some shots of my finished model with wire frame, a break down of objects used and a copy of my uv template with both unwraps maps shown.
A couple things I would change and feel would look better with more time spent on them firstly is my textures, I don’t feel that they are completely incompetent but I definitely feel that they could do with some more work and time spent on them, maybe creating extra maps for more definition and would add to the realism along with the alphas, I did struggle to apply them. Another thing I feel that I maybe wouldn’t change completely but would play around with is my unwrap uv packing lay out. I feel that I have done it ok and to an efficient tidy order but I feel I could have played around with the placement to maximize the layout and unwrap a few objects better. Even though I did plan my time well and managed to complete all aspects of my project, I still feel I could have done a bit better with it so that I did have time to work on my texture and polishing up everything even more than I did, as I did restart my model with a week left as my first I feel was completely lacking dimension, the right proportions and a realistic look and shape.
Also this week the dates and group times were given out on the final presentation which will count for a third of my grade. I originally felt that I would instantly want to a void doing it at all cost, that I'd make myself sick with nerves but I an honestly say i was no where near as nervous about doing a presentation as I thought. Of course I don't think I'm near the stage of willingly doing a presentation or wanting to go out of my way to do one but it's not something I'd avoid anymore.
I think that by doing the practice presentation during the first month of university was definitely a huge help, and i didn't realize how much it would help or how much it would help boost my confidence just a little. As the presentation is on a kind of exciting subject being " My zombie Apocalypse survival guide" it's definitely something to really get into which will help with being comfortable and interesting in what your presenting.
This week was spent finishing up my Toyota truck project which I feel went both well and a little bad. In general I feel that this project went fairly smooth and well, of course there are still things that need improvements but I’m pretty pleased with my final outcome. I think that some of the things that went well with this project are firstly that I feel I modeled efficiently being that I feel my end model represents my references well, it is pretty well proportioned and my tris have been evenly distributed. I’m not too happy with my textures if I’m honest and even though I feel they are ok I’d still change them. As my first few models were lacking a lot in the sense of the proportions, realistic shape and slightly flat looking, I took the decision with a week left to restart my project to really get the best end product I could as previous ones I didn’t feel were right. With this in mind I’m really happy with my mesh and time scales I planned for myself and feel I used it efficiently. By restarting my project I feel I’ve learnt a lot in general about the software and modelling vehicles which is highly beneficial.
Here are some shots of my finished model with wire frame, a break down of objects used and a copy of my uv template with both unwraps maps shown.
I think that by doing the practice presentation during the first month of university was definitely a huge help, and i didn't realize how much it would help or how much it would help boost my confidence just a little. As the presentation is on a kind of exciting subject being " My zombie Apocalypse survival guide" it's definitely something to really get into which will help with being comfortable and interesting in what your presenting.
Saturday, 14 March 2015
Modelling my Toyota truck
Week 24
As concepting was based on purely an existing vehicle and references were provided I was able to get straight on with modelling my truck. I ended up modelling multiple versions first and then as none of them I really fitted the brief, maximized my skills or looked in good shape I decided to re start my project. The process was the same just with more efficient modelling and attention to the shapes/details. I used the symmetry modifier to strip model one half of my chassie and main body. I then modeled my interior which I found fairly difficult at first to get the right shape and also how to distribute my tris. In the end I ended up using roughly 5,700 tris, staying within the tri budget and I feel my tris were efficiently used. I then assigned ID groups to my meshes to make applying textures and the unwrap easier.
ID Groups:
ID 1: Main body, wheels and windows.
ID 2: Interior and chassie.
Once I had modeled my truck I then moved on to unwrapping it. I began with the main body first and then the chassie and interior. The process for both was the same, I began by using the pelt mapping and planer map options to unwrap and also relaxing some parts when needed a little. Once each section was unwrapped how I wanted and felt were all uniform and none smeared. I then began too slowly set out my uvs on 2 maps split into my ID groups I had already set. I decided to have some uvs sharing texture space to maximize the map usage, once I had laid out my uvs I then rendered my uv template before placing them into photo shop and texturing them. For my textures I mainly used the reference photos provided, editing them, re sizing them and also re colours them with the hue and saturation mask tool. Some parts I did hand texture and also healed any seams I had. Still switching between Photoshop and 3ds max to check my texture progression.
Once I had completed my textures I then a created a multi sub material to apply both my textures to my models individual IDs as my model was one object with multiple parts.
As concepting was based on purely an existing vehicle and references were provided I was able to get straight on with modelling my truck. I ended up modelling multiple versions first and then as none of them I really fitted the brief, maximized my skills or looked in good shape I decided to re start my project. The process was the same just with more efficient modelling and attention to the shapes/details. I used the symmetry modifier to strip model one half of my chassie and main body. I then modeled my interior which I found fairly difficult at first to get the right shape and also how to distribute my tris. In the end I ended up using roughly 5,700 tris, staying within the tri budget and I feel my tris were efficiently used. I then assigned ID groups to my meshes to make applying textures and the unwrap easier.
ID Groups:
ID 1: Main body, wheels and windows.
ID 2: Interior and chassie.
Once I had modeled my truck I then moved on to unwrapping it. I began with the main body first and then the chassie and interior. The process for both was the same, I began by using the pelt mapping and planer map options to unwrap and also relaxing some parts when needed a little. Once each section was unwrapped how I wanted and felt were all uniform and none smeared. I then began too slowly set out my uvs on 2 maps split into my ID groups I had already set. I decided to have some uvs sharing texture space to maximize the map usage, once I had laid out my uvs I then rendered my uv template before placing them into photo shop and texturing them. For my textures I mainly used the reference photos provided, editing them, re sizing them and also re colours them with the hue and saturation mask tool. Some parts I did hand texture and also healed any seams I had. Still switching between Photoshop and 3ds max to check my texture progression.
Once I had completed my textures I then a created a multi sub material to apply both my textures to my models individual IDs as my model was one object with multiple parts.
Monday, 9 March 2015
Character Postmortem
Character Postmortem
The brief is to create a stylised medieval character that has been designed with a purpose and to fit with the style guide provided. The character is to be created based on personal appearance and then hand painted with simplified details, within set specifications of 4000 tris and 1 1024x1024 diffuse map for the main model with an alpha channel if needed and 1 512x512 diffuse texture map for props. The model is to be rigged with a bi-ped and between 28-60 bones.
One of my setbacks for this project was that as I already had an idea of my direction I wanted to go in for my character since I wanted to continue with the theme I had completed for previous projects that were part of the village project. I feel that it did restrict me to a certain extent when it came to the concepting phase, so it something I would a void next time or to at least be a lot more open with ideas.
The brief is to create a stylised medieval character that has been designed with a purpose and to fit with the style guide provided. The character is to be created based on personal appearance and then hand painted with simplified details, within set specifications of 4000 tris and 1 1024x1024 diffuse map for the main model with an alpha channel if needed and 1 512x512 diffuse texture map for props. The model is to be rigged with a bi-ped and between 28-60 bones.
For this project I first began by re reading the style guide to ensure my design fitted within the guide, Once I'd updated myself on the brief and the style guide I then began slowly to collect a bunch of images and references to start creating a mood-board to help generate some ideas. I guess even from the beginning I wanted to continue with the same basics and style I had previously completed my village witch house and trees in, such as the round plumpness, slight hints of purples, ect. So by already having a general direction in my mind it did help refine and make it easier to find suitable reference. I also used myself as a basis for my project and due to my body type I felt that it already fitted in with the direction I wanted to go in. After creating my mood-board and taking pictures of myself I then began using Photoshop to create a photo-bash kit, as an easier quicker and more efficient way of generating ideas.
Once I had about 17 rough designs I began to try and narrow down my reference so that I could make it little clear what direction I wanted to go in and where my designs specifically were referenced to in my mood-boards.
I decide to complete an extended research board on the extra details and possible props to give my character a more slightly obvious purpose and story. I looked into a belts to help break down the garments, I looked more closely at the head scarf I have decide to have my character wearing, also a basket with wool and possible baby garments hanging out of it is a possible and main idea I think that I might explore more.
One of the main aspects I decide to create my female character around is that she is a pregnant woman, so one of the discussions I had with my 3D tutor was about how to help that come across on paper and as a 3D model. Which is one of the reasons I added the belt.
Once I had some general extra details and props laid out I then looked at tonal values and colour. For the colour pallet I decide to reuse the same one I had created for my village building project and the tree project and I used the same colour scheme throughout all projects so help keep it all look consistent and to fit together. I then created 8 colour different colour scheme to my final chosen design. I feel that in general all of the colours schemes work however some are a little to contrasting.
I also decided that I wanted to double check my colour distribution on my final design to ensure that I was happy with where each colour was as I was happy with my chosen pallet but not on the distribution. So I complete a page in photo shop where I fiddled around with my colours and ended up deciding that my original colour layout was much better so I stuck with that.
To model my character I started off by using the box modelling method begging with the torso and gradually modelling down wards. I then deleted half the mesh and added a symmetry modifier, modelling the left side of my character and have it mirrored to the right. Once I had my mesh I then collapsed the symmetry modifier and sealed the seams up before then going back and editing the mesh to make it more realistic and not so identical on both sides. I decided to focus some of my tris around the bump, face, head scarf and bottom ruffles of the dress as that was a more curved shape that's highly noticeable. I also decided to get rid of some of the unnecessary tris/faces that wouldnt be seen such as underneath the head scarf, and the bump as the apron already creates the shape of the bump.
When my model was completed and I was happy with it I then changed some of the smoothing groups so that the model looked smoother and not blocky. As I was going to have two different texture maps to make it easier for texturing stage. I decided to have my main model as one set of Ids and my props and extras as another set.
ID 1 : Props and extras
ID 2 : Main model
When it came to unwrapping my model I decided to create all of my own seams even though the seams generically created were actually not that bad or untidy. After I had my seams planned out I then went on to mainly using the pelt map method which I find easier, faster and much more efficient for more models I personally have created. On average the majority of my unwrap automatically came out fairly neat and tidy so I have to do Very little editing to them in order to have no minimal smears, obvious seams and a consistent quality throughout the model. When it came to unwrapping the hands is where I feel it got slightly messy and took a bit more time as I wanted then to be readable as hands but still be relaxed enough to have a consistent quality, I decided to have the underside of my hand/forearm as a separate piece and the rest as one to help keep the form and to be relaxed well.
I chose in general to have all the seams well hidden or at least the best I could get then to be, by having my seams as normal clothes would have then to make it a little more believable. As my model had an apron which I decided to have separate from it's belt, I was able to hide most of the large seams of the dress under the apron. Once I was happy with my unwrap I moved on to the texturing.
For the rig I still feel like I haven't quiet grasped it still. To rig my character I started off by adding a bi-ped then continuing to re-size the left half of the bi-ped to fit my model. I then copied and pasted the bones onto the opposite side since I had modeled my character with the mirror mode mainly anyways. I then added a skin modifier and then began to play around with the weights of the verts that make the mesh move with the bi-ped, using a pre made rig to test out the movement of my character mesh.
For the rig I still feel like I haven't quiet grasped it still. To rig my character I started off by adding a bi-ped then continuing to re-size the left half of the bi-ped to fit my model. I then copied and pasted the bones onto the opposite side since I had modeled my character with the mirror mode mainly anyways. I then added a skin modifier and then began to play around with the weights of the verts that make the mesh move with the bi-ped, using a pre made rig to test out the movement of my character mesh.
Generally I feel that this project went pretty well but I still feel it could have been better. I already feel that I have improved on a lot of things, such as my time management which for this project and even though it is still not completely good. I still feel my skills and knowledge has improved a lot on Photoshop and creating my own textures. I’m really happy with my unwrap and uvs.
I feel that I spent are fair amount of time on them trying to get them easily readable and tidy, as well as making sure there would be no major smearing when my textures were applied, by using the checker board to make sure they were all uniform. I was pretty comfortable concepting my own designs and working from them, especially since I was able to have direct reference all the time as it was based on myself.
Four ways that I think I could improve my work would be to practice my Photoshop/texturing skills a lot more as I’m still not very skilled and feel my end model still lacks some on the texture side. I would have definitely provided myself with more time to really get to grips with the rigging side of things and to ensure my rig is done a lot more efficiently and smoother, it is one of the thing I need to work on.
One of my setbacks for this project was that as I already had an idea of my direction I wanted to go in for my character since I wanted to continue with the theme I had completed for previous projects that were part of the village project. I feel that it did restrict me to a certain extent when it came to the concepting phase, so it something I would a void next time or to at least be a lot more open with ideas.
Friday, 6 March 2015
New project !
Week 23
This week I was given my new project to model a Toyota truck that looks to a photo realistic finish, using fewer than 6000 tris. With a texture budget of 1 1024x1024 32 bit map with an alpha channel for the main body, windows and wheels. With 1 1024x1024 24bit map for the interior and chassie. Modeling the interior being a stretch goal and modeled from images you sources our self as no blue prints were provided for that.
This project is a 2 part one where the first part being modelling a basic Toyota truck is compulsory and then the second part being a stretch goal with the possibility of having extra marks/points given, is to zombiefy the truck, keeping the tri and texture budget consistent with the original truck modeled. I'm pretty confident that I'll not do to badly with this project since I find it fairly easy to model boxy type assets and I'm looking forwards to then being able to zombiefy it, it's definitely going to be fun.
Also this week I had a critical studies lecture where I was given the task of completing a postmortem on my meadevil character project instead of the usual asset template document, so I'm going to do that in a separate blog over the next few days as almost a part 2 to this one.
This week I was given my new project to model a Toyota truck that looks to a photo realistic finish, using fewer than 6000 tris. With a texture budget of 1 1024x1024 32 bit map with an alpha channel for the main body, windows and wheels. With 1 1024x1024 24bit map for the interior and chassie. Modeling the interior being a stretch goal and modeled from images you sources our self as no blue prints were provided for that.
This project is a 2 part one where the first part being modelling a basic Toyota truck is compulsory and then the second part being a stretch goal with the possibility of having extra marks/points given, is to zombiefy the truck, keeping the tri and texture budget consistent with the original truck modeled. I'm pretty confident that I'll not do to badly with this project since I find it fairly easy to model boxy type assets and I'm looking forwards to then being able to zombiefy it, it's definitely going to be fun.
Also this week I had a critical studies lecture where I was given the task of completing a postmortem on my meadevil character project instead of the usual asset template document, so I'm going to do that in a separate blog over the next few days as almost a part 2 to this one.
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