This week was the deadline for the first half of the Toyota pickup truck project, so I continued with my Toyota model. I had already started on texturing the msps and finished the interior texture. I used the first hand reference images provided to texture the vehicle, I used a rusted metal texture forvthe base of the car, a leather material for the seats and then for the dash board a plastic material, with the images of the glove compsrtment, other parts of the dashboard over the top of the plastic material and applied a mask layer, then added clearer images of the dials to fit the dashboard.
After I finished the interior, I started texturing the car body using the first hand reference photos provided. First I started with the side of the car, I realised the photo reference provided only had ine door, so I had to replicate the side door and make it to fit the uvw map, including the window and handle. I continued to texture the whole exterior map with the reference photos, while also hand painting.
Once I had finished both texture maps, I saved them as targa files, the interior as 24 bit 1024x1024 and exterior as 32bit 1024x1024 pixels. I then applied them both to my model in 3ds max to test if the textured worked well, while doing this I noticed the textured along the seams did not match, also the lights at the front and back. I kept going back to paint over the texture map, while testing itbin 3ds max to check if the seams blend and the lights match. when this problem was solved I made an alpha map, so that the windows could be partly transparent. To do this I duplicated all the layers in photoshop for the exterior diffuse texture and merged, I then selected the windows areas with the pen tiol and filled in black, I then filled in the remianing areas with white and saved as a targa. Now that all the textures wre finished I could apply them to the model as a multi_sub texture.
Tuesday, 24 March 2015
Reflection of game art, Week Twenty Four
This week I continued with modelling the truck for the zombie pickup truck project. At this point, At the beginning of the week, I had already finished modelling the truck, however needed to fix some problems before I could move onto unwrapping. After modelling my truck and collapsing the symmetry modifier, I found hidden verts and engons that need to be removed. Once this had been fixed, my triangle count was at around 5,600 and the limit was 6,000, so I had a small amount of triangles to attempt modelling the interior. First I modelled the car seats with a box, then swift looped a line at the bottom so I could extrude the poly out to make an 'L' shape. I then chamfered the edges and moved around the verts to shape the seat until I was happy, then cloned the seat. I created a floor using a plane so that the player can not see under the car, then created a dashboard using a cylinder which I deleted half the cylinder with the ends, I moved the verts until I was happy with the shape and then moved onto making a steering wheel. At this point I started going over the triangle limit, so I had to remove the wheel and leave the interior finished as it is.
Now all the modeling was complete, I could move onto unwrapping. I started with the interior and then the car body. As the vehicle had the symmetry modifier on it, I could use this to mirror most of the car while unwrapping, and place on top on each other to save space as they are the same shape. However I could not do this for the whole of the model, as it would be to obvious in some areas, creating a 'butterfly print affect' such as the bonnet and the 'Toyota' sign at the back if the truck. So I had to unwrap these parts fully. Once I had finished unwrapping one part of the car such as the interior or exterior body, I collapsed each unwrap uvw to a map channel number, so that I could assign the texture to the right map channel later in a multi sub material. I also render both interior and exterior body maps to a jpeg file, ready to be textured.
This week we also had a lecture on a blog assignment which is a 2000 word reflection on the first year, including the personal action based on our last review and how I want to develop forward to what career path ibwish to take. We are expected to used secondary reference materials, such as journals, books and articles. I thought I could use some reference as a comparison to my game art work, such as the character project in relation to low poly character model such as Lara croft and team fortress. I also decided to start from the beginning in September and use previous blog post and look through them to help me understand my development through the course and how my thoughts have changed, which I can talk about different aspects I liked and disliked.
Now all the modeling was complete, I could move onto unwrapping. I started with the interior and then the car body. As the vehicle had the symmetry modifier on it, I could use this to mirror most of the car while unwrapping, and place on top on each other to save space as they are the same shape. However I could not do this for the whole of the model, as it would be to obvious in some areas, creating a 'butterfly print affect' such as the bonnet and the 'Toyota' sign at the back if the truck. So I had to unwrap these parts fully. Once I had finished unwrapping one part of the car such as the interior or exterior body, I collapsed each unwrap uvw to a map channel number, so that I could assign the texture to the right map channel later in a multi sub material. I also render both interior and exterior body maps to a jpeg file, ready to be textured.
This week we also had a lecture on a blog assignment which is a 2000 word reflection on the first year, including the personal action based on our last review and how I want to develop forward to what career path ibwish to take. We are expected to used secondary reference materials, such as journals, books and articles. I thought I could use some reference as a comparison to my game art work, such as the character project in relation to low poly character model such as Lara croft and team fortress. I also decided to start from the beginning in September and use previous blog post and look through them to help me understand my development through the course and how my thoughts have changed, which I can talk about different aspects I liked and disliked.
Monday, 23 March 2015
Reflection of game art, Week Twenty Three
This week the new Zombie pickup truck project has been introduced to us. I am quite excited for this new project as it is a step in the other direction from what we have done so far. In previous project we were required to hand paint textures, however in this new project we have to create textures from photos. It will be more challenging and will be required to use skills more as this project requires accuracy and realism. I am also quite confident with this project, as I have learn so much from previous projects that I can apply to this. However one aspect I need to keep control of is my time management skills, I am close the end of the course now and shouldn't start relaxing a little because I am almost done, I am to work hard for this last project and always stay on target.
We have five weeks in total, for the first three weeks we must produce concepts for a zombie pick up truck. Also we are required to use first hand photo references to create a photo realistic toyota pickup truck with chassis and interiors. The second half of the project of the remaining two weeks, will be creating the zombie version of the toyota pickup truck, by adding the elements from our concept designs to the truck we already modelled and textured. So far this week I already began modelling the pickup truck and have finished the chassis, then began the truck body. I aim to finish modelling the vehicle by the end of this week, therefore I will have enough time to unwrap and texture the truck to a high standard for the deadline on 20th March.
This week I did not feel well enough to attend life drawing lessons, therefore I do not have work to show. This week I started my concepts for the zombie truck, I finished creating my mood board, however I was finding it difficult to come up with ideas and instead used this time to get a head with modelling the toyota truck.
We have five weeks in total, for the first three weeks we must produce concepts for a zombie pick up truck. Also we are required to use first hand photo references to create a photo realistic toyota pickup truck with chassis and interiors. The second half of the project of the remaining two weeks, will be creating the zombie version of the toyota pickup truck, by adding the elements from our concept designs to the truck we already modelled and textured. So far this week I already began modelling the pickup truck and have finished the chassis, then began the truck body. I aim to finish modelling the vehicle by the end of this week, therefore I will have enough time to unwrap and texture the truck to a high standard for the deadline on 20th March.
This week I did not feel well enough to attend life drawing lessons, therefore I do not have work to show. This week I started my concepts for the zombie truck, I finished creating my mood board, however I was finding it difficult to come up with ideas and instead used this time to get a head with modelling the toyota truck.
Reflection of game art, Week Twenty two
This week I continued with my Character project and was also the deadline for the project at the end of this week. I had mostly finished rigging and had unwrapped my model, which I rendered into a 1024 x 1024 32 bit targa UVW map. At the beginning of the week I started texturing my UVW map in photoshop. I started by researching some materials for my character, such as furs, leather, cloth and how to hand paint them. At this point I realised that my UVW was incorrect, as my head unwrap should take a third of the space of my texture map, I also forgot to model the belt and bag, therefore had to go back to 3DS max to fix these problems. Once I had fixed these problems, I continued with texturing the UVW map and changed the old map to fit the new one. Now I began texturing the clothing. First I copied the apron I used from my orthographic final, to the UVW map so that it fit where the apron is and painted over. I then started on the leather shirt, I wanted it to look very cracked and dry leather. So I first painted a base layer of the colours from the concepts, fading from dark to light, then found an image of leather with very prominent cracks to copy from. I layered the image under the painted layer and lowered the opacity so I could see the cracks. I then used this as a guide to paint in the dark cracked areas and the light reflective areas of the leather, once this was done I deleted the leather image and cleaned up the lines around the edge. This method worked well and I am happy with the results on my texture map, I continued with painting the rest of the map. Once I had finished, I applied the texture to my model and finishing rigging ready for the deadline.
This was also Employability week, so there was no lessons to attend, however we had reviews of our character projects. Overall my feedback for my project review was excellent, I am happy with my learning progress and the level I am at. I was told that I am currently at an B grade, but with a little extra work I could be looking at getting an A grade by the end of the year and on to next year. To hear this makes me extremely happy that I have developed and learnt so much and that the changes of me passes the first year is high.
This was also Employability week, so there was no lessons to attend, however we had reviews of our character projects. Overall my feedback for my project review was excellent, I am happy with my learning progress and the level I am at. I was told that I am currently at an B grade, but with a little extra work I could be looking at getting an A grade by the end of the year and on to next year. To hear this makes me extremely happy that I have developed and learnt so much and that the changes of me passes the first year is high.
Sunday, 22 March 2015
Reflection of game art, Week Twenty one
This week we continued with the character project and working on the character model, the character needed to be finished modelling so that we could move onto rigging the model. I spent time working on creating the folds and creases in the fabrics of the dress and top, I also added extra topology to the joints and face, to add more detail and so it is able to move when the joints bend. I am quite happy with how my character model is progressing so far, it resembles my concepts well and fits the style guide.
In life drawing this week we continued with foreshortening, which I was happy about as I feel this is an area which benefits my drawing skills and style. The task of drawing a figure with a lot of foreshortening requires accuracy and measuring, which I am quite confident at. I also enjoy the challenges that foreshortening brings, which I find more interesting and enjoyable to draw than a regular standing pose, it adds more difficulty with measuring and obtaining accuracy of the figure. First we produced some warm up sketches, which included a two minute continuous line drawing, an opposite hand two minute drawing and a two minute straight line drawing.
In the first foreshortening drawing I had twenty minutes, first I measured the figure with the head size, I then lightly marked in the angle of the middle of the figure. Once I had done this I started lightly marking in more measurements, such as the hips and shoulders to get the gesture and weight distribution. After this I cold start drawing the figure, I did this by measuring each angle and marking them on the page. Once the figure was finished, I shaded in a negative space background at the top.
In the second foreshortening drawing I also had twenty minutes, I continued with my method of measuring and drawing with this drawing, however the second drawing had a slightly more difficult angle, making the foreshortening stronger. This proved more of a challenge, although I feel I captured the overall accuracy of the figure.
In life drawing this week we continued with foreshortening, which I was happy about as I feel this is an area which benefits my drawing skills and style. The task of drawing a figure with a lot of foreshortening requires accuracy and measuring, which I am quite confident at. I also enjoy the challenges that foreshortening brings, which I find more interesting and enjoyable to draw than a regular standing pose, it adds more difficulty with measuring and obtaining accuracy of the figure. First we produced some warm up sketches, which included a two minute continuous line drawing, an opposite hand two minute drawing and a two minute straight line drawing.
In the first foreshortening drawing I had twenty minutes, first I measured the figure with the head size, I then lightly marked in the angle of the middle of the figure. Once I had done this I started lightly marking in more measurements, such as the hips and shoulders to get the gesture and weight distribution. After this I cold start drawing the figure, I did this by measuring each angle and marking them on the page. Once the figure was finished, I shaded in a negative space background at the top.
In the second foreshortening drawing I also had twenty minutes, I continued with my method of measuring and drawing with this drawing, however the second drawing had a slightly more difficult angle, making the foreshortening stronger. This proved more of a challenge, although I feel I captured the overall accuracy of the figure.
Reflection of game art, Week Twenty
This week we received the second part of our character project feedback, however I was one of the very few people that did not receive theirs, therefore I talked to tutors about my feedback during lessons. So far I am on track with my project, however my colour value iterations need to have a little more saturated colours as they look to dark and pale, which I will work on and develop further. This week I intend on finishing my character project concepts, so I can move on to starting the character model.
In life drawing this week we focused on proportions and foreshortening. We started off with four warm up drawings to get the brain fully working on both sides and loosen up my drawing.
We then moved onto a first eight minute foreshortening drawing, I started my measuring out the proportions and then working in the rest of the angles and shapes of the figure. I ran out of time during the first drawing and did not manage to fit the whole figure in the time I had, next time I would plan my time better and work faster.
Next we did a twelve minute foreshortening drawing, which gave me a bit of extra time to fit the figure in. I started the same where I measured the proportions, then worked in all the angles and shapes.
In the last drawing we were given twenty minutes to produce a foreshortening drawing, I continued with the same method, where I measured the proportions, then worked in all the angles and shapes. However I had more difficulty with drawing, as It had a more complicated pose making the foreshortening stronger.
We then moved onto a first eight minute foreshortening drawing, I started my measuring out the proportions and then working in the rest of the angles and shapes of the figure. I ran out of time during the first drawing and did not manage to fit the whole figure in the time I had, next time I would plan my time better and work faster.
Next we did a twelve minute foreshortening drawing, which gave me a bit of extra time to fit the figure in. I started the same where I measured the proportions, then worked in all the angles and shapes.
In the last drawing we were given twenty minutes to produce a foreshortening drawing, I continued with the same method, where I measured the proportions, then worked in all the angles and shapes. However I had more difficulty with drawing, as It had a more complicated pose making the foreshortening stronger.
In critical studies, we did a peer feedback group session, which we switched work with someone, to review each others work of each area related to our medieval character projects, including our blogs, 2D concepts and 3D work. Overall I agreed with all the comments my peer gave to me as feedback. I know that my blog work had improved, as I include more detail and reflection of my work, however my gramma and articulation of words needs to improve, as I keep making spelling mistakes and missing out words, to solve this I could start proof reading my blogs to prevent mistakes. I agree that my 2D work is good and aesthetically pleasing, which follows the style guide. I made a good variety of colour value iterations to keep developing my design. My 3D work at this point is hard to compare to the project brief and style guide, as I only have a body model and head. However it is a good start. Overall my peer feedback gave me 66% which is a 'B'.
Personal action plan, Week Twenty Two
After having my review from my character project. As my review from my character project was excellent and I am on track to an potential A grade, I have to reflect on my work and review myself, as I am the only person who knows my strengths and weaknesses. So that I can make an action plan to develop my skills and decide what improvements need to be made. If I could have more time to improve on my stylized character project, I polish my final concepts to a more professional standard, with some extra environment finals and poses. I noticed that the contrast on my final orthographics was a bit strong in certain areas, which I would blend out. If I were to go back and improve my character model, I would change the posture of the spine, as my concept orthos have a 's' shaped spine, whereas my models spine looks too straight. I would also spend more time working on the texture map, especially the face, skin and top. I also noticed the smoothing groups were not correct, which I would edit the normals to solve this problem. Overall the area I need to improve on the most is rigging, although I managed to rig the top half of the body without a problem. I had a lot of difficulty rigging the skirt. However I learnt from research and tutorials, that in order to rig a skirt you need to add extra bones around the skirt, which I added four with five links. I gave this my best attempt of rigging the skirt, editing the envelopes, painting envelopes and editing the weight table, however there is still so much I need to learn about rigging.
Although I have improved greatly in all areas, there is still a lot I need to improve to be at a more professional standard. In conclusion to reviewing myself, at this point after the character project. I know that I need to improve on my time management skill, I have already improved a lot, as I am able to complete all tasks within the deadline. However, If I gave myself more time, I could of improved all the areas I mentioned previously. I know that my knowledge and skills in 3ds max need to improve, which I can develop over time with my learning progress. Finally I think I need to continue to develop my digital painting skills, which I can do by practising.
Although I have improved greatly in all areas, there is still a lot I need to improve to be at a more professional standard. In conclusion to reviewing myself, at this point after the character project. I know that I need to improve on my time management skill, I have already improved a lot, as I am able to complete all tasks within the deadline. However, If I gave myself more time, I could of improved all the areas I mentioned previously. I know that my knowledge and skills in 3ds max need to improve, which I can develop over time with my learning progress. Finally I think I need to continue to develop my digital painting skills, which I can do by practising.
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