Problem Solving

Here I have created a western bank themed mood board, I will be using this as references from other people work and images as well as real life banks which I can use to create blockouts, because of this I can work out scale of the building, as well as the scale of the objects as well to make sure each objects is in the best shape and size to fit into my diorama scene. I can also then use that block out to help me with my colour and texture ideas for objects.

Here I have tried to do a sketch over. we used a basic blockout for this and taken a screen shot and imported it into Maya, which we then sketch over the blockout creating designs from the original blockout

Sketches

1. Windmill

Here I have drawn and made sketches around my idea of a western themed windmill. Here I have made two different designs for my windmill asset. I have based the two designs based upon the mood boards I made and addition research I have done, the first design (left) I have based by looking at images of windmills, I had added a plane on the side to spin the windmill to face the direction of the wind. I have also sketched in the small exo skeleton type structure by the fans of the windmill which is what holds them together. The second sketch (right) has been drawn roughly the same, however this sketch doesn’t have the exo type skeleton that the first one has, instead this one rotates on the pivot which holds it together but it does mean more structure will have to be built.

Looking back at these sketches I feel as the second sketch would be more interesting to model into my diorama scene but would also look better, because of this I will be modeling and research western windmills for me to model as my final asset for me to put into my diorama scene.

2. Window

Here I have done a couple of sketches for my window assets for my diorama scene, I have made these sketches so I could see which shape works best with my scene. My first sketch is of a basic window with a wood axle going across it for stability, this window would be one for a window or one for a storage however with it being quite obscure I could use it in my scene. my second sketch (right) is of a sliding window, this would look good in my scene and would not be implausible as this would be used at the time, while the second one looks good there would be a lot more polys and much more difficult to model

Looking back at these sketches of designs I think my second sketches looks very good, however both are acceptable and to increase my differences I am going to make different shapes and sizes to make my windows look good in different areas of my diorama scene.

3. Cacti

Here I have made sketches for my cactus. Here I have made 4 different designs I have tried to make it so that the shapes and sizes on each shape is different than each other, the first designs is based of a traditional cactus from cartoons and images, After this the other designs are other variations of this object which have different sizes compered to the components.

Looking at these sketches to choose a final shape and design is difficult however after much though I have settles on doing design 2 (the second from the left) as this design is not to complicated and makes the shape look like there is to much going on but not to little like the first one.

4. Crate

Here I have done two different sketches for my crate asset, I have based these two designs off of my mood board and other research. The first designs (left side) is of a basic crate which has wooden planks going across it as it provides more durability and a much higher practical use especially for transportation where boxes and crates might have been drooped or moved on a daily basis. The second design (right side) of a basic create with planks of wood going along it to show its basic shape but also means it would have extra detail in my scene making it look better.

Looking back on these designs I have decided to do the second design (right side). I have chosen this design as it seems the best design I can go for as it would allow me to experimenting with the scale and sizes as well as allow me to create a new type of crate as I have created my first design last year and which to expand my skills by making new objects.

5. Sack

Here I have made 3 different designs for my sack asset. My first design (left)

6. Beer bottle

7. Barrel

8. Wagon wheel

9. Sign

10. Door

11. Bank building

Blockouts

1. Windmill

Here I have created a blockout for my western windmill, I created this basing the shape structure, while his structure wasn’t hard to make the basic structure in his objects is not to bed and is somewhat close to the actual shape and size, while more detail is needed I feel happy looking at the shape and size of the components in this meaning I can use this as a template to keep my finished product in scale. Which does mean I have my basic model which I an use and add more detail onto when creating my actual windmill which will be placed into my diorama scene.

2. Window

Here I have my basic blockout version of a window which I could include onto my diorama scene this window is straight and seems to fir into the scene because if its structure, however it occurred to me that I would not want all the windows into my scene to be the same structure. as well as I would like some characteristics to my window so the window would not be exactly straight which means it can seem more life like and fit into my scene a lot better.

3. Cacti

Here is my blockout version of a cactus, while this is relatively high poly because it is cylindrical I feel as if a few more edges on the basic shape could be added to make the cactus seem not only rounder and much more smooth. Another thought I had is that I can either texture on the spikes using a height map however I can texture them on as well, while this is possible I’m split upon the decision.

4. Crate

Here I have the blockout of a create which I could easily include into my western diorama projects, this create is quite good, the scene to the indents in the center of the crate is a little small so for my actual model I would indeed make the indents a lot tighter, however the shape and way of making this create is very good and I would be doing the same process to create the finished crates however I would perhaps the vertexes at the corners so they seem like they have been rubbed a bit to much which would make the polys count higher for a small detail however I feel like it would be needed to make that touch work and work really well with the diorama.

5. Sack

Here I have got the blockout of my sack, now the tradition sack does look rather different maybe like a bag of yeast or flour however these are more like heavy sack like sacks of cement because they are more heavy and can be traveled over long distances without tearing and survive weather which is why I hope to use this and to texture this into a heavy and a thick sack with a tight not at the top to hope to texture on a zipper at one part to make it look as if it was accessible.

6. Beer bottle

Here I have my blockout of the bottle, well the first thing I have not modeled the inside of of the bottle but this will be done for my finished objects because when I texture my finished objects it will be using an opacity map which will make the objects see through, but when it goes onto my portfolio people will be able to enter the object and see that it hast yet been done so I will include it which will also give it a good look when looking at it through different angles, especially angled when your looking through 4 planed instead of two which will increase the about of depth and color on them overall making the objects look much more convincing.

7. Barrel

Here I have made a very basic version of a barrel, this blockout is not what I was I was expecting, upon further refection I think I should make the middle of the barrel come out slight less and to be much more firm looking to give it a realistic look, I also thing toward the top and the bottom of the barrel it should stick out to create metal bark holding the barrel together which when textured will looks much better (in my mind) as it will look more practical an therefore more realistic.

8. Wagon wheel

This is my blockout of a wagon wheel, making this blockout was quite fun as I allowed to experiment with the scale of certain pieces in this model to see what looks I could give this material and also to see what shape and sizes go well with each other, after a little experimenting this was the finished look for a basic model of my asset, from first glance the actual wheel works well, I think there is just enough edges to make the wheel look smooth and realistic for my scene, I am also very happy with the scale of the wheel compared to the scale of the joint of the wheel in the center, while in my blockout I have done the connecting pieces as planes in my actual product I will be giving it a much more 3D look to works well with the shape and style of this asset.

9. Sign

This (above) is my blockout if my sign, this is a basic shape if my asset which I have had some issues with in terms of scale, on of the first issues was with how tall the sign should be compared to how much the sign sticks out, this was a little tricky however after scaling pieces of this blockout I’m not to impressed by the scale but I find it satisfactory. My second issue was with the length of the chain, because this determines how far the sign droops down from the structure and I didn’t want to make it to long to make the sign look out of place, in the end I decided to have the sign quite close to the structure, I have done this because of the size of the sign and the size of the chains, compared to each other the size of the chains will be quite small meaning that is I had it lowed down it would mean more chain pieces and there fore more polys so I moved the sign up so its no to far away but also not to close to the structure. Overall I am quite happy with my sign and I feel like this is a great basis for me to work from when creating my actual sign for my diorama.

10.Door

Here is my basic blockout for my door, At first glance of my blockout I can say I’m very happy with the scale of the door and feel as the over size in width and length is very good, I also can say that I’m very happy with the indents to the door which gives it a but if height and character making the door look over all better, the door handle does seem a bit small in size to the door so for my actual design I will make the door handle bigger so that it fit in with the door as a complete asset.

1. Building

here I have my blockout fro my main building, here I have tried

Colour Ideas

Here I have got each blockout I have made, I have imported images into Photoshop and have drawn and coloured over these blockouts,this is to determining how well the colours of each piece in these assets will go together and how well, I have also done this to give me a closer reading as to how to texture my assets for my diorama scene to make sure it applies to my target audience.

1. Windmill

Colour idea 1

This (above) is my first colour idea for my windmill asset, for the structure that holds the windmill up I felt a brown texture would go well with this, because in my initial research it shows the structure almost always made out of wood often scraps of wood or trimmings, the colour of the wood is close to what I want for my final asset. The wind planes on this are a beige/grey colour as in my initial research it shows the windmill planes were could be made out of lots of different types of materials such as wood, leather or cloth, in this ides he planes are made out of cloth like a sail. I think that the idea of the wind panes being made out of cloth is a good idea however I’m not yet sure if it fits in well with my scene.

Colour idea 2

This is my second colour and texture idea for my windmill. I started by colouring the structure of the windmill however while I am sure about using wood as the material I wanted to try different shades of brown as to show different types of wood, for example in this image (above) the colour is more reminiscent to jungle wood which can make sense as the wood the town used would have been brought in and not farmed from the land which means the wood colour could work very well. I have done the wind planes at the top a slightly dark shade of pink as its meant to represent the raw hide from an animal which would of been carefully pulled from the animal dried and then placed as its tough and relatively thick.

Colour idea 3

Here is my third and final colour idea for my western windmill. In this colour idea I have made the structure to be a very dark wood like mahogany to try different shades and colours of wood to see which would work best, I have also coloured the wind planes to be a much more darker pink to show the hide has been dried a bit better and to also give the visual effects that the hide has been there for a little while so it can be slightly weather worn.

Windmill Evaluation

Looking back at the colour ideas I have done, I think that for the structure the second colour ideas is the best colour to go for as it shows the materials is a little weather worn yet not falling to pieces and would work well i my scene however for the wind planes I thinks the first colour idea is the best ideas

2. Window

Colour idea 1

Here I have my first colour ideas for my window, here I have sketched and coloured over my blockout and then given it a mid-dark brown colour to show that the wood used could be a little old and weather worn but mainly as I think this is the right shade of brown to use from my diorama project.

Colour idea 2

Here I have my second colour idea for my window. I have shaded this one as a much brighter and grayer brown as this shade of brown could be used to show that the wood is old perhaps covered with splinters which I could include in my scene as some pieces and newly built however certain pieces are very old and need to be fixed making the seem more realistic as that would have been very much the case with buildings in the wild west.

Colour idea 3

Here I have my third colour ideas for my window, here I have coloured the wood to be much darker as if it was mahogany type wood, or it could be wood that has been on the outside of the building where its rotting away and decaying from being to weather worn. I am quite happy with this colour of wood and feel that the colour is accurate.

Window Evaluation

Looking back at these colour ideas I would say that the first colour idea is the best as it is a nice and simple colour so it can fit well in my scene, the colours not to complex so it appeals more to my target audience and I think it wont be to dark or to bright in the light or the shade for my final product.

3. Cacti

Colour idea 1

Here I have my first colour idea for my cactus. here I have sketched over my blockout and painted it green. I started off with a light green as I thought it may suit it and may work well with the background and the scene, however now that I look at this colour idea I think that this shade of green is not the right one for my diorama.

Colour idea 2

Here I have done another colour idea. For this one I went much darker in the shades of green to see if possibly a dark green would work for this objects however I don’t think this is the right green to use

Colour idea 3

In this colour idea I moved to a more bland green, one that seems more simplistic and easy on the eyes as I thought that would work well in the scene and would fit the object quite well

Colour idea 4

In my final colour idea I changed to much more of a beige green in that the plants would be sun bleached from being outside all the time making them seem a bit whited and lose some of their colour and there for fit in well with the diorama.

Cactus Evaluation

looking back at these colour ideas, in my opinion the 4th colour idea is the best one as it seems the more realistic without going too bland, therefore I will be using this to help me texture my cactus asset in my diorama project.

4. Crate

Colour idea 1

Here I have my first colour ideas for my crate object, here I have sketched and coloured over my blockout and then given it a mid-dark brown colour to show that the wood used could be a little old and weather worn, this colour is also a very good shade because its neither to light of a brown or to dark of a brown which means it would be blurry in the share or the light in my final product which is a good bonus for rendering my scene.

Colour idea 2

Here I have my second colour idea for my crate asset. Here I have shaded the bx to be a much more darker wood, this could be very god as the property of mahogany wood is more weather resistant however the wood is traditionally weaker than most so this may not go well with the scene as it wasnt that use in the western period.

Colour idea 3

Here I have my third and final colour idea for my crate asset, In this colour idea I made the brown to be much more of a beige brown to show that the wood could have lost colour from being in the sun and be used much more as if the crate has been used time and time again.

Crate Evaluation

Upon looking back at these colour ideas I feel as if colour idea 3 would be the best colour to go with this asset as it would seem best from the crates being in all kinda of weather.

5. Sack

Colour idea 1

This is the first colour idea I have had for my sack. this colour idea is quite bright as this could be a new sack possibly not used and weather work as much as others, for this asset I’m dead set on creating a sack like texture to make it look realistic however this shade does look very good and accurate to what I’m looking for this asset to look like

Colour idea 2

Here I have my second colour idea for my sack asset, I have coloured this to be much darker than my first idea to show that perhaps the sacks are weather worn, covered in dust from the desert floor, this could also be placed in parts of y scene where they would have just come into the bank, and perhaps have been shipped for a long time.

Sack colour ideas evaluation

looking at these two colour ideas, while both are very good and I could use both shades to separate my sacks so some look more used and some recently made

6. Beer bottle

Colour idea 1

Here I have the first of my colour ideas for my beer bottle, Here I have coloured this colour idea I started off with a medium beige colour o give me a somewhat accurate colour based upon my research. This colour is neither two dark or to light so I can start off in the middle however I’m not quite happy with this colour I feel as if the colour should be less beige and more brown.

Colour idea 2

For this colour idea I went for a much browner colour as I feel it would bring me closer to the colour I’m looking for

Colour idea 3

Here this is my final colour idea, I made this colour idea to be much more of a darker brown and more of a dense looking shade of brown to try to make this looks realistic, I’m quite happy with the colour of this as I think it brown enough to be associated with the objects yet just dense enough to fir in well especially with metallic and opacity map when creating my final product.

Evaluation

Looking back at these colour Ideas I feel as if the third colour idea is the best shade to go with as its brown enough to look like it it a beer bottle and I believe it will look really good when textured in substance cause it will be that shade of colour but will be shiny and somewhat transparent cause of metallic and opacity maps.

7. Barrel

Basing this with the research I hope to find out a good colour for mt to use as a basis for my barrel asset in my final piece so that it will look good and somewhat realistic to make sure its targeted at my audience.

Colour Idea 1

This is my first colour idea for my barrel asset, to start off with I tried a mid shade of brown as I thought it would look brown and firm enough to look good for my asset, looking upon this I’m quite happy with the colour of my barrel, I fell like its improved when we get the grey metal rings going around the barrel as this makes the brown seem even firmer and more dense.

Colour Idea 2

Here is my second colour idea for my barrel asset, for this colour Idea I took my inspiration and upon researching different types of wood, this colour idea is meant to be reminiscent of birch wood as I though it might fit in well into my scene and make the scene brighten up a bit.

Colour Idea 3

This is my final idea for my barrel asset, looking at other colours I went for a much more of a dark brown, this makes the brown seem much more like mahogany wood, it could also be used in my scene for perhaps waterlogged barrels for my scene however I do not think that would look good in my scene.

Evaluation

Looking back at these colour ideas for my barrel my second colour ideas is good however it would not fit in well with my scene, my first and second colour ideas could work quite well in my scene however the first colour idea is a very much of a lighter brown which means it can stand out more in the light and the shade in my scene.

8. Wagon wheel

Colour Idea 1

This is my colour idea form the wagon wheel, to start off with this I started with the colour black as this could be used as weather protected metal, which often has a black paint which is why I coloured this one back, the finished texture would still be black but also look really shiny and a little bit of height to make it realistic which would also make the wheel look really good.

Colour Idea 2

For this idea for my wagon wheel I decided to try making the whole wheel wooden, as we can see in the image the outside of the wheel is completely wooden as well as the poles connecting the wheel together but the middle piece is black as this would still be metal from the connecting rod. Looking at this wheel the shade is brown if accurate as the wood in those times would have been dirtied by running along the ground all day and collecting dust in the grains of the wood.

Colour Idea 3

In this colour idea for my wagon wheel I tried to make the outside of the wheel metal but the structure and the connecting poles wooden to try an give an aesthetically pleasing texture to this asset.

Evaluation

Looking back at these colour idea I’m very happy with the shade of brown as it is a mix of brown and orange which is good because it makes the scene look more realistic

9. Sign

Colour Idea 1

For my first colour idea in my scene I started off with a mid-dark shade of brown I sketched over where the chains would be and sketched them out in black so I could see a definite difference between them. I chose this brown as I thought it seem quite western, its brown as it shows off the wood but has a tint of orange to it which my sign being an outside object could work as the orange dust with blow with the wind and possible get stuck withing the grains of the wood giving it as tint of the dust in the object.

Colour Idea 2

Here is my second colour idea for my sign asset for this colour idea I went for a beige-brown shade as I felt it could work very well blending in a little with the desert yet still be a good enough colour of wood to show it was used quite a lot in my scene.

Colour Idea 3

for my final idea in my scene I went with quite a dark shade of brown. I did this to show that this objects could be made of of darker wood such as mahogany wood which could be useful for my outside assets. I also chose this shade of wood as it could be A very good shade of brown as it could be seen easily in the light but a little hidden in the shade making the viewer of my diorama look a little harder to find it.

Evaluation

Looking back at these colour ideas while they are all good and plausible in my scene I feel that colour idea 1 is the most aesthetically pleasing colours to go with my sign. I also feel as colour idea 1 was the best shade I could go for as its neither to dark or to light to

10. Door

Colour idea 1

For my first colour idea for my door asset I decided to start off with a light brown shade. I did this because the door would be on the outside of the building where it would be exposed to the weather and the dust. I made it lighter so that the door stands out more in the shade and

Colour Idea 2

For this colour idea I decided to go for a much darker shade of brow, I chose this shade as it seemed neither to bright or to dark so it wouldn’t be concealed in the shade in my final product yet would be dark enough to make the texturing of the grain of the wood to stand out more giving it much more of an appealing appearance.

Colour Idea 3

For my final colour idea I decided to go with a slightly darker and dirtier shade of brown. I did this because with the door being on the outside of the building in towns on the frontier would get sand storms so these doors could get dusty which could be what has happened to these door as the dust could be trapped in the door to where the door still is covered in layers of dust from where the wind has blown dust onto it.

Evaluation

Looking back at these colour ideas, while I could do all of them and all three look very good I believe colour idea 2 is the best colour to go for this asset

Layouts

now that I have made my block outs I have to decide on the positioning of my objects to give my scene the best layout possible. To do this I shall be using my blockout objects to give me the best angles for my objects which can render the diorama to show it off as a final product.

Layout Idea 1

Here I have my first layout of my blockout objects organized and positioned in my scene. in this scene I have positioned my barrels at the front on the porch o the bank showing that the bank has got materials of value perhaps barrels of gold nuggets that is being shipped off or the crates full of materials such as spices outside being delivered or being shipped off, I look this layout as it shows materials around the size of my building, I also like this layout as it shows all my assets around the building perfectly positioned with the sign hanging off the building making the scene look even more realistic of a diorama as it seems to good scale and once modeled I believe this layout would be very good to show off.

Layout Idea 2

Here I have my second layout of my blockout objects organized and positioned in my scene.

Evaluation

while both of these layouts are very good and both of these blockout layouts use the space given effectively