Project Evaluation

To begin with for this project, I was very excited at the prospect and idea of making these characters. However, as time progressed, I would look back at things I had made for the project and felt unhappy with their look. The 'what if's' and 'why not's' in my mind far outweighed the feeling of worth. I feel that since beginning this project, my skills for modelling, texturing and animating have come a long way and that some of the assets I have created for this scene look very flawed and outdated. It was this notion that caused me to break through my initial idea, and to create a scene that could be implimented in a game. I deconstructed the RAID model, and used it as a center piece of interest in the scene itself, much in the style of the ruined body of GLA-DOS from Portal 2. Although this was a massive change from the scene I had first decided on, I feel that it makes the piece more interesting.

For my next project, I would like to take the skills I have learned from this project, and actually commit them to a realtime running game engine, such as Unity or UDK. I feel this project in particualr would have been vastly improved if you, as a player were given the freedom to explore the scene from a 3rd perspective as the character Eschen in a game engine. This idea will be the driving force of my learning for next year, as I progress onto the BA course. I would also like to take my texturing and modelling skills further by mastering UVW unwrapping, and by use of Autodesk Mudbox for improved character sculpting.

On the whole, although I am critical of my work; my client is very happy with the content I have produced for her. It will help her to better visualise her characters from a three dimensional perspective, which will undoubtably transate fluently into her drawings.

Over the course of this upcoming summer, I shall be working using the UDK engine to create an alien scene in colaboration with a couple of other students on this course, and I will use this opportunity to develop my skills to a level that I would be happy with.

Processes and learning outcomes.

This project has enabled me to learn a few new skills, as well as develop on skills I had previously learned. I have developed knowlege of  normal mapping to give a flat object an 'illusion' of depth and texture. I have also learned to use opacity mapping to hide certain areas of an object from view. This effect can be used to create low poly, yet realistic looking objects such as plants.

To create normal maps for textures, I have been using a program called 'Crazybump' which automatically calculates an appropriate normal map from a diffuse image. Although I use this program to make normal maps to speed up the process, I do understand how to create my own normal maps using photoshop. I just use crazybump because it is really helpful to create a quick map. For opacity maps, I simply take the diffuse image, cut the object I want to show out and place it into a new layer on Photoshop. I then turn the object completely white, and place it on top of a black background.

From a modelling perspective, I have learned a way of modelling which I find to be very useful, especially for organic modelling. NURMS subdivisioning allows me to model with objects as though they had been mesh smoothed, without actually applying the mesh smoothing effect to the object. Using this method, I find it easier and quicker to create the shapes I want to use, even if I do not end up confining the NURMS shape to the object I am building.

I feel that from this project, I have come out with a better grasp of texturing and character modelling. I do not feel that my skills are quite developed enough as of yet, I feel myself improving every time I create something new, however this project was definetly a key building block towards the area I see myself in.

Image overload!

 Quite a lot of things happening, my idea to turn this project into an 'art piece' is coming along, and the assets I am building seem to be fitting together nicely! There are still a few problems, the odd graphical glitch here and there (particularly with the leaves) but I will be sure to iron them out by the final render. My project now has an underlying story (which may or not be told) - The Mobile unit 'RAID' has sent out a distress call from a location it had been sent to investigate. When 'Eschen' arrives on the scene, he finds RAID lying in ruin, showing signs of a fight. The scenery around is strange; large statues of a lost civilization covered by forest. Eschen is wary of his surroundings, and feels that he is being watched.

I want to make this scene feel very curious. The character Eschen will be looking around the scene for clues.

Now for the images!

A cluster of multicoloured leaves, easy on the eye and only 16 polys! These leaves were created by placing diffuse textures onto planes, then applying a normal bump map and a little bit of specular lighting to give it some shimmer. Then an opacity map was placed to remove the unwanted sections.

A few flowers, I am going to make more and of various types. These were made much the same way as the leaves, but with a low poly stem cylinder added for a 'stalk'. These flowers are only 10 polys each.

A small cluster of leaves, like a weed. This model is currently having a few rendering problems when I export it to a different scene, so I will need to check the opacity maps for even the smallest irregularities because I plan to use a fair few of these! 20 polys per chunk.

An example of my 'moss' which I have been applying to my models to make them blend into the background better. Currently, they are placed on a plane which hovers over the desired model. I want to be able to simply place the texture onto the model without effecting the underlying textures.

A few rocks I have made using Mudbox. I mould the rock shape from a sphere using the crafting tools, then apply a projection spray to the mesh. The textures I am using are all from local source; pictures I have taken from around the city. This particular rock texture is from the Plymouth Hoe waterfront.

Original concept of statue by Alex Newton

This is the start of creating the statue from the above image. I have built the main body, but I want to embed it into a rock face of some sort of temple wall. I feel that my 3D interpretation of the statue looks from aggressive and oriental than the concept which feels more mayan. However this was just based on the image and not a carbon copy!

Same model under different lighting. I have noticed a few problems with the textures which aren't blending as well as I would hope, but from any distance other than close up you can hardly notice it. I may fix this should I have time.

The Ruined body of 'RAID'. It lies upon the floor of an alien world with signs of being destroyed. I want to make this more detailed, and will add more mechanical debris and broken wiring.

New direction, same assets.

OK its been a while since I've updated so here goes. The project is taking a new direction now, before I was planning to do an animated piece based on a story by the original artist HOWEVER I have changed my mind about what I want to do, and have decided to go with the flow! Why not? I am now simply focusing on a short animated show reel, showing off the character models in a VERY detailed environment. So far I have completely destroyed our robotic character 'Raid' leaving it in a state reminiscent of Valve's Portal 2 scene in which the fallen GLADOS lies in ruin. I have been applying actual textures to all of the models, all of which are bump mapped and contain specular levels. I have made plants and trees using opacity maps, Rocks, Ruined pillars, Machine debris... I have done a lot. But I also have alot more to do! Images will come later of course.

Character model - Eschen

To create the body, I started out with a 4x4x4 box, and selected the NURMS subdivision tool. This turns the object within the viewport into a rounded box shape. I then use the vertex control points of the NURMS cage to shape the box into a basic torso shape. I extrude shapes outwards to form arms, legs and the neck. When modelling at this stage, I tend to only focus on one side of the object. This is for two reasons, particularly with symetrical organic shapes; I can use the symmetry modifier to copy a side over to the other, and also I can manipulate this effect to create ridges in the torso down the center. Although this ridge is harsh, I can soften it out properly to make a realistic looking muscle structure. In general, once I am happy with the shape of the model, I will check whether of not the NURMS subdivision is at all necessary. If my model is well enough made, even in a lower poly version it will look how I want it to.

For the head, I generally use symmetry modifiers from start to finish, except for the final adjustments. I begin as with the body with a 4x4x4 NURMS box. Much of my modelling process is simply sculpting and tweaking, only extruding and adding shapes where necessary. For complicated areas such as the mouth and the eyes, I bevel a face inwards a few times, particularly around the area for better animation morphing translation.

 While modelling this character, I had to look at alternative sources to give a better perspective on a three dimensional view. I looked particualrly at the Aliens from the Alien movies by Ridley Scott. The exoskeleton shapes and alien aesthetic was interesting to model, and I felt alot of freedom to create shapes and sections that would have otherwise made no sense on a basic human model.

GAMES DESIGN ANIMATION PROJECT

Dance!

(Just testing bodily constraints with a fairly OTT movement .bip file and thought i'd share the love :D)

GAMES DESIGN PERSONAL PROJECT - RAID 5/4/11

This is the second character of my project, the autonomous golem 'RAID'. Raid is an extremely heavyweight robotic character, so I shall implement animations to emphasise this. I found this character difficult at first to model due to a lack of conceptualised resources, however after sketching up a rough plan of the side view, everything fell into place. I literally managed to get this whole model finished in less than 6 hours! The original concept on the left is owned by Alex Newton of Windflower studio's.

Head and top torso, before resizing

Arms and shoulders inplemented, again prior to re-sizing 

 Finished model without textures in place, resized shoulders, arms and head to give a better sense of size. This change came about after confering with the original artist, who wished to show RAID's sheer size better.

Early biped placement, works to a certain extent. Will have to better size biped components and remove undesired control points before I actually animate.