Creative and Technical Modelling: Update

I havent updated a blog on this project in a couple of months, so I will do a quick update post.

As there wasnt many changes in the model during some lessons as I was just fixing certain parts, I felt as though I didnt need to post a blog just to say one thing, and I wanted to wait to do one big blog post.

I took my sonic model into Mudbox to add more details to the model.

However, I then realised that my Maya model was wrong in a lot of places, such as his face being too long, the wrong amount of spikes on his back, the spikes on his head were too long and his body was too big.

So I resculpted it all within Mudbox, to create a more accurate model.

I then exported both the high poly sonic and the lower poly sonic into maya to bake.

 

 

With the baking, I had a lot of problems yesterday with Maya constantly crashing everytime I tried to bake anything.

One of the issues was that I forgot to UV the low poly model, and then I optimized the scene, removing junk from the software that wasnt needed, this allowed the Maya to get the UVs sorted straight away without crashing.

 

Envelope

 

Baked Normal Map on Low Poly Model

The texture looks really odd in maya, we then baked this texture within Substance painter, the textures looked normal, then also on sketchfab, the map looked normal, so it may just be an issue with Maya making it look strange.

After this, we then imported the model into Mudbox to see if it was just Maya, but then mudbox started having issues as well, it was unable to detect the normal map.

So after searching through the internet for a while, I managed to sort out getting the normal map to show on the model.

Normal Map on Model – Mudbox

The next thing to do now was to paint the model.

 

Creative and Technical Modelling: Continuing Modelling & High to Low Poly Workflow

What is High to Low Poly Workflow?   How are you going to do it?   What will it look like on your model?   What programs will you use to create it?     Continuing Modelling.   So from …

Creative and Technical Modelling: Research and Beginning the Model

We will be starting a 9 week modelling challenge to create the best 3d  model that we can.

Brief: “This model needs to show a high to low poly model which uses normal map baking.

This model will be UV mapped and textured. During this project you will also learn about Specular maps and emissive maps”

 

The first thing to do was to find some images of ideas that I want to model.

I chose vehicles, characters, weapons and objects.

These are the images I chose to use for my research.

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In the end, I decided to chose Sonic to create my model with.

 

I started off in 3DS Max, but almost immediately ran into issues where the box I had created couldnt be selected and altered.

So I swapped over to Maya to create the model.

I added two reference planes so that I could use them to help create my model.

Then I added a box shape and began modelling from that.

Difference in Texture Mapping

There are a few different types of texture maps to use to creates something that looks like additional resolution or detail on the surface of geometry. Some of this detail is real and some isn’t.

First you need to make sure that your model is ready to texture. This can be done by UV Unwrapping the model first to create a UV Layout.

You can then take this layout into Photoshop and start adding the textures using photographs or paint them using the tools in the software.

Examples of some hand painted textures. 

Free Realms – Game with Hand Painted Textures

By using different types of textures, you can make either a realistic looking game, or a stylized one, such as Free Realms above, or other games such as WoW.

The different types of Texture Maps include:

• Projection Painting
• Colour Maps
• Bump Maps
• Normal Maps
• Displacement Maps
• Specular Maps
• Mask Maps
• Texture Tiling

The three main texture map types I am going to talk about are

Bump Maps, Normal Maps and Displacement Maps.

 

What is a Bump Map?

A bump map is an image that acts as a height-map, that is in greyscale. Bump maps don’t actually create geometry to the model, but they act as an illusion to make it look like there is a difference in height in certain areas of the model. By using greyscale for the map, anything above 50% grey will appear as if it is going down in the model, such as a wrinkle in skin or clothing, while anything light will appear as if it is raised up from the model.

Bump maps are used for adding detail to the model, where the actual geometry doesn’t need to be changed.

 

What is a Normal Map?

Instead of a greyscale image like a bump map, a normal map is basically a map of what direction your geometry’s normals are facing. Normal Maps are usually a mix of blues and purples and these work best for models that need to be animated, as the meshes can deform, for example, character animation. This is known as a Tangent Space Normal Map.

For models that dont need to be animated an Object Space Normal Map is used.

Normal Maps are used to fake lighting and are now the more modern version of a Bump Map.

Normal Maps can be created by either dragging and image into the software, where it will automatically make a map from the photograph.

Normal Map from Photograph

Normal Map Applied using Photo

Normal Map edited in Photoshop

Normal Map Applied using edited map

Displacement Maps

These types of maps physically displace the mesh to which they are applied. In order for detail to be created based on a displacement map, usually the mesh must be subdivided or tessellated so real geometry is created.

Like a bump map, a displacement map consists of grayscale values.

Displacement Maps are used to create extra geometry onto the model,  displacement map is basically a height map with the primary difference between a bump and displacement being that the displacement actually affects the geometry.

Once you’ve baked them out from the high resolution mesh, you can apply the displacement to a lower resolution version of the model. This allows you to get some really high quality detail while still keeping the mesh resolution manageable for future steps in the pipeline, like rigging and animation.

Project 5: Modelling within Maya

Today we were given a task to create a vehicle within Maya. This is my first time modelling within Maya as I usually model within Max.

I went for a cartoony styled car as it would be easy to start with.

I started with a cube and added multiple edge loops to create parts that could be extruded to make the starting shape.

 

I had problems mainly with creating the wheels, with overlapping faces and really weird topology. The main problem with the overlapping faces was that I accidentally extruded part of the wheel twice and I didn’t realize until the faces turned a weird black colour.

To create the rounder shapes, I used bevels, but again this sometimes messed with the model so I couldnt add it to all the car.

I prefer modelling within Maya over Max, I just feel as though it is easier to use than Max, although I still do prefer to model in Autodesk Inventor over the two.

I feel as though if I learn more about Modelling within Maya, my modelling will get better, as it has improved a lot since I first started my 3D Modelling two years ago on Inventor.

Project 1: Drawing the Line – After Effects

I tried to make an animated line within Maya a few days ago, however I found that it would be much easier to just create the animated line within After Effects.

I started by adding a line with the pen tool and then changed the line so that it was dashed rather than one straight line.

After this I changed the trim paths so that the start and end times were different, meaning that the line moves from one side of the screen to the other.

However, I thought this seemed a bit plain so I added an effect so that the line would follow the ball and disappear after the ball hits the wall.

Project 2: 3D Modelling

Todays task was to model anything we wanted, just to practice it again after the summer holidays. I decided to model the iPhone plug that was on my table. I forgot to take screenshots during the modelling process, and only …

VFX Kitten Project: Premier Pro and After Effects

I have now rendered BB-8 out as a png sequence and have edited this within Premier pro. I have then added him onto a layer onto top of the kitten video and added some sound effects to try and make it seem more realistic.

The next thing to do is to add some more effects within after effects, including shadows.

 Once I had edited the videos within Premier Pro, I moved the files into After Effects and added a drop shadow to the BB-8 Layer. I then moved it to behind him so that it appears as when he moves, the shadow follows him.

On another layer, I added another BB-8 copy, this I then added a blending layer mode onto it, changing the lighting on the model to match that of the video.

Once those were done, I have then also added a reflection of BB-8 that I have set with keyframes to follow BB-8 while he moves around. The reflection was added as the kittens in the video have a slight reflection themselves on the flooring.

I have added another video below for this video.

3D Modelling: BB-8 Render

I have rendered out a few images of my BB-8 model within maya. I have added a normal and bump map onto the model to make him look more realistic than before. The rendered images are below.

I feel as though I have improved a lot with my modelling compared to the beginning of the year as this now looks more realistic than my older models did.

 

Unreal Project 1, classroom Build

yesterday, I started using Unreal 4 to make a basic mock up of the classroom we are going to use in our post apocalyptic game.

Since everyone is still modelling, I just started to place random objects into the room, using simple box shapes to make the shape of the room.

I forgot to take screenshots along the way, so i only have pictures of the most recent update of the room.

I originally used square boxes to resemble the seats, however, I found a pre made model of chairs so I imported them into unreal to show how everything would be laid out.

After this I started changing the lighting, trying to make it very dim, showing that it has been abandoned, then added a few visual effects into it using a thing called, Particle Systems.

Video walkthrough of most recent update of the room: