21/03/2011 Character and Prop hand in date and fully up to date

Today and over the last week I have been working to the final deadline for my 3D character and my 3D prop. My prop was fully modelled it was just the texturing left to do and this would not take too much time to do. Therefore over the week I worked on my 3D character and my main things to do with my character was to model the ears for my head, assemble the entire character together and to start work on the armour and detail.

Here is an image of my glove for my character. This is an image of when the glove is in LPM and when it will be placed on my character it will be mesh smoothed to add more detail. I chose to create this hand model by not using the joan of arc tutorial mainly because the tutorial was very complicated for a simple task and I did not like the end result. Therefore I used an image of a hand for a basic outline and I simply started off with a 2D plane and made a 2D hand to start off. I then used the cut tool to create more detail on the hand, e.g. adding lines to show where the knuckles will be extruded and where the armour on the glove will be extruded. After I made the basic 2D hand I used the extrude tool to make the hand 3D. I then beveled the faces on the side of the hand so that the fingers where not simply cuboids. After I had fiddled with the vertices and the bevel tool I then used the combination of extrude and bevel tools to create the knuckle armour and the back of the hand armour. After I had finished the main hand I extruded from the wrist to make the model into a glove instead of a hand model. After I had beveled and moved more vertices I had a final glove model ready to be attached to my 3D character.

 Above is an image of my final textured character. I simply attached the glove model onto my 3D character and then I started work on the armour. How I created the armour was that I selected the part that I wanted armour to be over and I used the detach tool and made it into its own object. I then used the modifier Push to scale out the armour from the skin without disrupting the skin model at all. I then simply attached the new armour model to the main character object. Then to make the armour look like it was being worn I extruded the outer edges of the armour inwards and then beveled and this made the armour look detailed and generally I was very pleased with the outcome. I then work on the eyes and instead of following the joan of arc eye tutorial guide I decided to try my own way of texturing an eye model. I used a human eye as a reference image and I simply selected the sclera part and changed the ID of it to a certain number and I did the same with the iris and the pupil. I then went to the materials part and I made a multi-sub object instead of a standard material mainly because I could have one material for my entire character. Therefore I put the ID for the sclera part of the eye and changed the colour to a white colour.

Here shows the material editor and how it looks if you use a Multi-sub object material. It is very simple to use and allows for easy texturing. Also shown in the image is the ID and colours for the iris part of the eye and the pupil. Also in the same material I create the skin colour and I simply used the joan of arc skin tutorial to create a dark skin colour however with the proper lighting has a certain grey texture within the skin colour to make the skin look realistic. I also made the silver texture for my armour using the material editor and using a simple photoshop texture that I created to make different blends of silver work well and make the armour look realisitc. Once I finished the texturing then my 3D character was completely finished and I started work on texturing on my 3D prop.

Here is my final rendered and textured 3D prop which as you can tell is a sword. Earlier in the blog I describe how I textured the sword however I changed my theme from a ceremonial sword to a simple dark and bloody sword and I used simple shading colours and a blood texture to texture my sword. I plan next week to start work on my environment and my character animation using Cryptic AR.

7th to 14th March 2011 - Finishing off the sword model and basic texturing

Over the last two weeks I have been working on finding textures to make my sword look more realistic. I textured the sword is by using the modifier uvunwrap and chose the box option to have a basic UV. Then I used the pelt and flaten tool on the handle and hilt to make it easier to texture. I left the blade UV the same because it is a basic box shape. I decided to have a ceremonial style to my sword and therefore suched the internet for images of diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires as well as a steel texture for the blade and a gold texture for the detail on the sword. I plan to raise certain areas on the sword to make the gems look more realistic.

28/02/2011 - Started work on prop model

Today I started work on my 3D prop and I decided to create a sword that can be held by my character when animating. To create this sword I started off by using the joan of arc tutorial to create their sword however I looked at the final outcome and I did not like it and it wouldn't fit with the style of our game specified at the start of the production process. Therefore I used my own method of modelling to create this sword however I used the 2D template of the sword from the joan of arc tutorial to give me a basic outline of a sword. I decided to create the sword in parts and then attach the parts together at the end. I did this to make it easier to texture and also so that I could move certain parts of the sword and edit them easily. Next lessson I will finish off the basic model of the sword so that it is ready for texturing.

14/02/2011 - Character head finished

Today I worked and finished my character head with only the ears to model at a later date. I simply followed the joan of arc tutorial whilst making the character head my own. I simply used the extrusion tool and moved the vertices to the apporiate place on the template behind the model. The top image is when i just finished the model and had a sharp edge from where the side of the head was mirrored. The second image shows how i made a simple connection between two vertices down the middle of the head to make it more smooth. I also changed the colour of the eyes to a white colour to define the outline of the eyes more.

07/02/2011 - Continuation of modelling the character face

Today I started work on my character face again after creating a basic 3D environment and planned my environment. I have been following the joan of arc tutorial so far to create my character head and I am reaching now to the point where fine detail is needed and a lot of time spent moving vertices. Here is a screenshot after extruding the edges from the eyes to create the cranium, paying close attention to both the front and left views that I use to make sure the vertices where going into the right place. I then extruded down from where the ear would be on my character to create the jaw outline. I then fiddled around with the positions of the vertices to create the outline shown above. Then I went to work on the nose seeing how it was the next part in the tutorial it seemed right. I simply used the cut tool to create new lines between edges to add more detail to the area and again a lot of vertex moving.

Here is where I am at currently on my model of the character's head. I have added a mesh smooth modifier and mirrored the model to show you how it would it would look if I was to use it in a game. As you can see there is still the mouth to complete, more detail around the eyes and model a neck and ears. In the screenshot above I am showing how I have completed the nose to high detail including a minor extrusion of the nose to create the nosetrels. I am currently working on the mouth of the character and will complete this outside of class.

Moodboard for my 3D environment

24/1/11 - Basic environment modelling

Here is my first initial ideas of my environment for my game. The style for the human race for modelling is futuristic and therefore I have drawn energy pylons that would create a force field for the city. I have also drawn simple drawing of the buildings that will be in my city. I have also drawn a basic drawing of a fusion reactor in the middle of the city as the main source of power for the city.

After i had drawn my basic concept art i created a height map on photoshop that will be used to make the basic layout for my environment. When a height map is made, the colour is very important. If you use a colour brighter then the background colour on 3ds max the terrain will be raised. If the colour is darker then the background colour then on 3ds max the terrain will be lowered.

Here is my basic environment made on 3ds max. I used the modifier displace and used my height map that i created on photoshop to create my basic shape. I then strengthened the displacement to a positive number to make the terrain more raised.