Unit 13 File And Folder Structure
Here as you can see I have created a folder structure which I will appropriately place the files for this project. The first folder is called “FBX and texture files”, this folder would have a lift of folders for each asset inside it which would be split as they would be in two folders, one folder from the first environment scene and the second folder containing all the files for the second environment scene, in these I would have the FBX export of the named asset inside the folder, with it I would have the substance designer and painter files for that asset and then a folder inside these named “Textures” which would hold all the maps needed to texture the assets in unreal engine later. The next folder is called “makings” this folder would have two sub folders, one folder for each environment scene with the assets made in maya (.MB files) so I can easily find which assets need to have some work done on them. The third folder is peer reviews, this folder has two sub folders inside it, so I can easily find the peer review forms when they need to be filled out and I can locate the completed ones so that I can put them onto my blog easy. The folder named “primary research” stored the images I have takes to use as primary research around this project, this has a few sub folders around what images I have taken to which components of the project. The “Problem Solving” folder is used for the visual ideas and tests section of the project. It contains folders for each of the tasks I have to do for my visual ideas and tests, the files will be neatly organised and appropriately named in each of their own folders. The last folder in my folder structure is called research, this contains any images I may have needed to complete the research and the specific research. I am aware that I will have to add new folders, such as the one thats is going to contain the unreal project and all the effects I am going to add but with any new folders I add to this folder structure I will be sure to keep it organised so my work is easy to navigate through and easy to find pieces should and if I need them.
Making My Short Soft Drink Can
Because my soft drink can is cylindrical I started off with a cylinder, I made the number of edges going around the cylinder 24 as this number can be divided easier than the original 20 but all make the smoothness of the can a little more effective to make it look nicer overall, I did this by going to the attribute editor and changed the “sub division axis” to 24 to get this effect. The first thing I did with this model is I enlarged the shape and then got rid of all top the top and bottom faces as we will a have to remake this so I can get the effects and the shape in the mesh that I want. I started by making the bottom of the can first as I believed the bottom of the can would be simpler to model, I selected all the edges and using extrude I extruded downwards, then using the move and scale tool it allowed me to edit those edges to start getting the shape I wanted, I moved down slowly to create the ring base at the bottom of my can but I then started to curve these edges so that I could model upwards to create the large dent like curve at the bottom of this can. To get all the edges to merge I has too select all of them and go to Edit Mesh < Merge To Center as this creates one vertex in the center which I selected and move upwards so that the bottom of the can was a curve all the way to the end. at the and I added a few edges and edited upon them as it allowed me to get more of a curve and more of realistic and better look for my model as I want it to look realistic for my scene.
I then had to start making the top, using my research I extruded up wards a number of times and then used the scale tool to soften these edges so that the can looks good, I had to delete one of these edges as I felt as if they were unnecessary and I had to create the dip at the top, to do this I extruded upwards, then inwards, then downwards, to soften these edges I used the bevel tool to create new edges that would make the edges softer so its easier to look at and looks like a much better model. I then slowly extruded downwards curving the edges slightly as I went along, at times I had to use the connect tool and then edit those new edges so that my model can look a but more curved as I felt like the can at this section at times looked a bit to flat. Once I got to the bottom of my curve I selected all the edges going straight down as at the top of the coke can it has a little dip, I used this to create the tip that I wanted for my model because using the scale tool to extrude inwards. To get all the edges to merge I has too select all of them and go to Edit Mesh < Merge To Center I did this as this gives me the flat top I need for my can, at least for now as I will model on effects later onto my model.
The next piece to make for my sofa can asset was the pull cap, to create this I bought a sofa can from a shop and used that to model off of as I could use that to help me with the scale as well as the smoothness of the shape, I modeled half of the overall shape as it would then allow me to go to Mesh < Mirror , unfortunately some of the vertexes weren’t on the exact same line from the mirror line so I did lose some effects of the pull cap, to try and fix this I used the moved tool and moved around some of the vertexes in the center of the shape as this could soften the curved going around as well as this could help me get back some of the effects lost. As I hadn’t modeled the back of this asset as it would be half in the can and wouldn’t be see-able by the viewer , however when I tried placing this asset to my can to combine it it wasn’t easy, the asset looks to low down and to flat, to fix this I moved the asset back upwards and I selected all the edges going around the shape near the bottom and moved them downwards, I then used the connect tool to create a new ring of edges going around the shape and used the scale and move tool to show that these edges were hardening to create the effect as if these edges was the middle point of the shape, at least height wise, I was sure to complete this on the two inside rings as well to give my asset the best look I could give it.
Here I have scaled the pull cap top my can and have combined them to the object, this is so I can unwrap all component to this asset at the same time as well give them a texture all on one UV map so I will be able to pack all of these UV shells in the same map.
To create the effects of the bracket that holds the pull cap to my can I started off with a simple cube, I quickly beveled all the edges going around the cube and deleted the top and bottom faces as they were N-gons as the bottom face wouldn’t be seen it wouldn’t be necessary for me to recreate them, however with the top face I selected all the edges and extruded inwards before I went to Edit Mesh < Merge To Center, I then used the move tool and moved this component to the base of the most southern hole in the pull cap so that this asset can look as good as possible. From my research I have seen a small cylindrical type shape poking out of this bracket at times as I believe this is what help keep all the component to together. To create this I imported another cylinder and moved this to the top of the shape, suing the scale tool on the object to help me work out what size I should make this component compared to the previous bracket that I created, once I was happy with the size of this component I moved this component upwards and deleted the bottom faces as they would not be needed or seen by the viewer. I then moved the edges upwards as I wouldn’t wanted the edges to go downwards to far as this would take up more space in my UV editor and could potentially make it quite difficult to pack all the UV shells later on. I then positioned this component to the shape and combined all the components so that they are now all one mesh.
To add the small dent at the top of the can as well as the ring like bulge at the top I had to elect the pull cap as well as the bracket that I have modeled and using the move tool I moved these components upwards as this allowed me to see everything on the top of my can and allowed me more room to work with.
I re extruded the edges going around the top of my can an used the move tool to move the vertexes to create the shape I needed to get the effects I wanted on the top of my soft drink can. I then extruded downwards but only by a little as the edges when softened wont have that much depth and if theirs to much depth then the asset wont look very good, I then had to use the bridge tool to help me create the shape going width ways but then I had to use the connect tool to help me create enough edges to create the effect of the soft drink can entrance. I used the connect tool to fix any N-gons that were on my model as well as using the move tool to position my vertexes so that I could get a rough shape of my opening.
Now that I have my rough shape I used the scale tool and selected all the edges going round, I extruded in once by a little as this will give me the baseline for my bulge on my opening for the can to make the asset look really realistic.I then extruded inwards again and went to Edit Mesh < Merge To Center, this gives me an outline for the thin bulge to go on top of my soda can as well as bringing the middle of this shape together so the can will look as if its unopened.
To create the effect of the rise in the opening of my soda can I used the connect tool and created three new edges going all the way around the outline, I moved the outer two lines upwards before I selected the middle line and moved it ever so slightly higher than the first two lines, this is so that the rise has a distinct curvature to the shape, I then beveled the top line an changed the fraction so that the rise was a smooth looking as it could be, I had to lay around with the vertexes to try and get the ring rise to be smooth as it went around on the top of the soda can, to help me do this I used the connect tool to create two new points, I used the connect tool to hep me fix the N-gons created on my model as I edited each group of vertexes so that the rise in my can was smooth. Once this was done I reselected all of the components I separated in the first lace as I combined the objects together again
Now that I have made my normal soft drink can I changed the name to something much more appropriate “Normal Soft Drink Can” so that the assets was properly labeled as for when I start to import them into my scene so I will be able to search and find my asset easily in the outlines tab. I then continued by selecting the object and I exported the object as an FBX file to help me create my two other variants of this asset. I made sure to label this export appropriately so I was able to find it easier in my folder structure.
Making Tall Soft Drink Can
To create my taller variant of my soft drink can I created a new Maya file and imported the FBX file, I moved the object as a whole further up on the y-axis. I selected all the faces at the bottom at the of the asset as I used the move tool to pull them further away from the top of my asset. This made my asset longer, I made sure that the asset was not to long to be unreal but not to short so it wast much different from my first design. After this was done I edited the name to “Tall Soft Drink Can” on the outlines as this will help me when I am trying to find assets when placing them in my final scene.
Making My Thin Soft Drink Can Asset
To create my third and final variants of my soft drink can asset. I have imported the FBX file we exported previously into a new Maya file. The first thing I did for this asset was change the name in the outline to a more appropriate name “Thin Soft Drink Can” as this would help me determine which can variants are which, as well as helping me find where my object is located. From here I had to edit the image as I selected edges from the center going outwards as I one by one deleted these edges and the vertexes so that my can could be straight and smooth. Once this was done I had to heighten my can a little bit as i selected all of the faces along the bottom and pulled them downwards on the Y-axis just a little so it was imbertween my two variants to show that all of these assets were completely different. Now I need to unwrap them and export them so that these assets are ready for texturing.
Making My Stop Sign Asset
To start off creating my stop sign to fit into my scene, I started off with a cylinder using the scale tool as that I could elongate the objects and then scale it inwards so that the pole was thinned overall, giving me a good baseline which I could then work around when making the different components to complete this asset. To create the face of the sign I brought in another cylinder using the scale tool as I made sure that the cylinder was thin, I rotated the components and moved it into position as I used the scale tool so I could get a good size for my object as it allowed me to make this components to be realistic as well as, I selected all of the outside faces as I used the scale tool scaling outwards from the sign to help me create the baseline for my border of my sign. This split the forward faces into two segments, an outer ring which was small cause I didn’t extrude outwards very far as well as the original inner ring. Using the move tool I selected all the faces on the outer ring of faces as I extruded forwards only a little as I want a small edge going outwards from the original face. with these extruded face I wanted top create the effect that this was curved as it would be safer for usage as well as more visually pleasing, to complete this effect I beveled the two edges as the front of the sign as I lowered the fraction slightly so that the sign looks like the edges are smooth and the sign is well made. To lower the poly count and to therefore make it easier for me to unwrap this object later on I have gone round deleting the edges that I will not need as it saves space in the file and optimizes the shape.
To create the holds the sign to the pole I have created another cylinder, I have used the scale tool as I have made sure the component is thin enough, but not to think to ruin its look as well. Using the move tool I moved this component so one end was just poking out of the other end as the other end was poking out but a little distance so that I can create the effect that they bolts are held together with nuts on the other side of the pole, I then duplicated the same object as I moved it down lower on my object so I had one bolt at the top of my sign and one on the bottom, this makes the asset look more realistic but also makes the asset look safer with this effect.
Now that I have made my bolts to keep my sign attached to the pole, I have the create nuts so that the bolts look like they are kept in place and thus making the object look more real to the viewer. To create this I started off with another cylinder. To make sure I could get all edges going around my shape to be 6 with no differences between the gaps between them I changed the subdivision axis to 24 as this number is a multiple of six so it makes my next step so much easier. After this was done I selected every other edge and deleted them until I eventually got 6 remaining edges left making the object mold a nut looking shape for my sign. After using the scale tool to thin this component a bit so it was a good size and scale with the other components I positioned this asset so it would look like it was keeping the bolt locked in place, I then duplicated this objects and moved it down positioning it with the other bolt at the bottom of the sign so this asset looks as good as it can.
To finish up with this asses I had to selected all components of this asset and then use the combine tool to form them into one mesh, I then deleted history as this was now worthless to me and was not needed, as I went to the outlier renaming the object to an appropriate name so it would be easy for me to find later on when placing all my assets together. As the bottom of the stop signs wouldn’t be seen by anyone in my scene, deleting these faces would save my time in unwrapping as well as lower the overall poly count for this asset saving space in my scene.`
Making My Milk Carton Asset
To start creating my milk carton asset I decided to start off with a cube and use the scale tool to get a basic shape from this cube which I can than edit to create and mold this into my milk carton. With the basic shape for the main component for my milk carton asset forming its shape I had to make sure that I could effectively fix the N-Gons that I have created when I beveled the edges. To do this I faces the bottom of my shape and deleted the bottom face and using the scale tool I selected all the edges and extruded inwards to create one layer of faces for the bottom of my container. I used “Merge To Center” so that all the faces were joined by one vertex in the center of my face which is also very easy to unwrap later on.
To help me create the top section of my milk carton asset I have deleted the old top face on this components, I extruded the edges upwards and then using the scale tool I scaled inwards so there was a slant that would make the top of the milk carton where the airway would be. I tried not to make the slant to strung by using the height to my advantage and overall I’m pretty pleased with the effects. This left a gap at the top of my slant, I then extruded upwards to create the top grip and hold of my asset to make this look realistic but also practical to the viewer. At the very top I extruded inwards and used “Merge To Center” so that all the faces were joined by one vertex in the center of my face which is also very easy to unwrap later on. I beveled the edges around the base of this top fold as well as at the top of the fold so that the asset is easier on the eyes to look at as well as looking as a little worn and realistic.
Going off my primary research of the milk carton asset I wanted to create the triangular dip either side of the carton. To create this I selected the faces wither side of my asset and made sure that they were both selected before using the scale tool to extruded inwards giving me a smaller triangle, however using the merge to center this creates a point, a vertex exactly in the center of this face which I had to do each side individually because of I did both they would have been connected by one vertex which in my opinion after trying it, was far to deep for this asset to look good.
Now that I have got my milk carton almost completed I needed to bring in the tips that I have created by using the vertexes, as I have previously stated when I combined these dips to one vertex ion the center I felt like the dip and the depth was far to deep and rather ruined the look of this model, To fix this therefore I will use the scale tool and select both of the two vertexes. I scaled them in towards the center slowly deciding when I should stop scaling as this allows me to see and evaluate different depth for this asset. I was happy with the end result as I scaled in quite far but not far enough that it ruined the look of my model. I also then used the move tool to move the two selected vertexes downwards slightly so that I could make the face as the bottom of my dip have less of a slant which I felt would improve the look of my asset. Overall I am quite pleased with the result but to finish editing this component I selected the top two edges of mt indent and went to Mesh Display < Soften edge as this makes the edges look curved ever so slightly which I feel could work well with the texture of a little wear on these sections.
To create the milk carton lid I started by using a cylinder. Using the attribute editor I changed the subdivision axis for this shape to be 40 for an effects which I will show later on. The first step was to delete the top and bottom faces of this object so that I had a perfect tube, I used the rotation and move tool to move this tube to my carton and rotate it so it was as if the milk top was actually coming out of the top of my milk carton. To create my milk top as I already had a good angle of rotation and the shape I needed I duplicated this shape and moved it upwards by its component so I would only have to drag it back down for a perfect for later on.
To create the milk carton lid I started by using the scale tool and selecting all the top faces and extruding inwards, combined with the “Merge To Center” so that all the faces were joined by one vertex in the center of the face. to help me create this effect I had to select all of the faces going around this tube shape and bevel these with the segments of two, this create two new lines with each edge we had originally effectively but this is good as it helps me get closer to create the effect I want for this component. with the top edges I used bevel again after sorting out scaling to help me get my effect, this create the effect that the edges going around soften up before arriving at the tip of the lid, a pretty interesting sight and I think looking upon it now, quite realistic. I selected all the edges going around my shape to help me finalize this effect and this component as I have been able to give this components the effect that it is ridged, that the edges rises and lowers rhythmically going all the way around.
Here I have the finished product read to be textured, I have made sure to take my time and to make sure none of the UV shells are strained at all and to make sure they fit as best as they can into my UV editor.
Making My Milk Bottle asset
To start making my milk bottle asset I started off with a cylinder, I wanted to model this asset from the bottom upwards, To do this I selected all of the top faces and all of the faces going around the object. From this I used the connect tool to add lines going around the faces and then used the move tool to create the effect of a slight dip at the bottom of the asset, this gives me my base so that I am then able to model my way up on this asset.
To start creating the shape of my milk bottle asset I have extruded upwards using the move tool, being careful not to extrude to far upwards as this could very well potentiality ruin the look of the asset. I was then able to bevel the bottom edges slightly to improve the look at the curvature at the bottom of my object.
I continues extruding up my model slowly using the scale tool to slowly scale my edges inwards to give me a slight curve for my shape, I then had an edge connecting all the way around as this was used to the bevel, adding more edges but this also allowed me smooth the curve for my bottle making the asset look more realistic and I think much better. With the extruding upwards I used the connect tool to create 5 edges going around my top shaft that will help me create the bulge, or lisp at the top of the bottle making the mouth piece, to help me complete this I used the scale tool with all of the newly made edges selected and scaled them inwards bring all the edges closer together and then used the move tool to bring all these edges near the top of the asset.
To help me create the curvature I wanted for this asset I had to select the edges and carefully use the scale tool so that I could get a final good curvature for this section of the asset, this will help the bottle cap to fir onto my bottle and look realistic. To create the bottle cap I started off with a cylinder and changed the subdivision axis to 40 as this would allow me to work out carefully the amount of points going around the shape I could get, after extruding outwards and messing with the bottle cam I got a good effect going all the way around my components as I then used the combine tool to be able to connect them both as well as using the move tool and scale to to carefully place it to the right shape. I made sure to position this component near to the lisp of the bottle so that the bottle cap looks like it is wedged onto the bottle which makes the bottle look a whole lot better and much more realistic for my final scene.
Here I then unwrapped the model, I took my time to carefully make all the UV shells of the asset roughly the same size compared to eachother while trying to make them as big as they could be for in the UV editor. This will help me get the best possible textuers for my asset.
Making My Shotgun And Shotgun Shell Assets
To start off with creating my shotgun asset I decided to start off with the barrel of the weapon, as this asset doesn’t need to be terrible high poly I started off with a cylinder and lowered the subdivision axis to 10 to give me exactly 10 edges going all the way around. I started off by rotating the object to be on its side before deleted the bottom faces and the faces that go around my shape. this leaves a plane of 10 polys which I then selected all of the surrounding edges. With these edges I extruded forwards as this will be the inside of my shotgun barrel, I moved it forwards to what I thought was a good length got the inside at least I then extruded outwards slightly being sure not to go to little or too far so that the material on the shotgun barrel looks to think or too thin.
I extruded the edges back further than the back of the inside of my barrel to give the barrel its length. After this I looked at the front of the barrel which I felt was still to hard and it made its shape feel off slightly, To fix this I used the bevel tool on the edges inside and outside of my barrel which I then beveled and softened the edges. I also was sure to selected all the edges going around my barrel on the inside and outside and went to Mesh Display < Soften Edge to give my assets the best possible look possible.
Here I created a small sight for my shotgun by using a plane to create the top section and then extruding outwards using the scale tool. I used the move tool to position this as close as possible to the center line from, however this created a problem as when I tried to position it the shape would look from the top but would push itself into the barrel but as soon as the sights stopped coming through it would seem like its floating on the top of my barrel. To fix this I selected all of the vertexes on the edges of each side of my sights but not selecting the middle ones and used the move tool to drag them down into the shotgun barrel as it looks like its connected onto the shape but also not coming through the shape and into my shotgun barrel.
Here I started to create the structure of the pump to be placed upon. To create this I started off with a plane which I positioned and rotated onto its side, I selected the bottom edge and slowly extruded downwards using the scale tool as I went along to create what I could of a smooth round shape, I then selected all the edges going around the plane as I extruded again backwards till the end of my barrel length as this will be where the main component as well as the magazine will be located. I haven’t bothered with making the back faces as these face will not be seen by the viewer and is therefore not needed. The face at the top I have also deleted as this will not be seen by the viewer so to make the unwrap easier and to lower the poly count I have deleted this face.
Here I have duplicated the structure for my pump to be placed upon. Here I used the scale tool to shorten the length of this asset as I want to make this components the end of my pump action. I focused on bridging and fixing the faces upon the back of this component. I then positioned this component to the base of my pump support which I then enlarged to how that this component is not only connected to the barrel of this weapon holding them together but is also the end of the the line for the actual pump on this weapon giving it a means to not just fly off of the end of the structure making this asset look better and in my opinion much more realistic.
To create the actual pump on the shotgun itself I decided to duplicate the support structure and deleted the tip square and rectangular faces this gave me the cylindrical faces that I need to make this object look good as well as fixing the geometry so that it is simple to unwrap later on. From the top face I extruded up again as I widened the shape again to fir in well with the actual barrel of the weapon extruding and moving up slowly to make sure that I do not go up into the barrel. I moved to the front of the component as I used the scale tool and extruded inwards creating a small inner shape on this place before using the the move tool on the selected faces and pulling them forwards a little bit being sure not to go to far as this will add a little structure and curve to this component.
Now that I have created the barrel and all the components I will start creating the body and the rear section of the sights as well as the magazine as this will allow me to then work on the magazine as well as the stock ad once those are done I will be ready to start unwrapping this asset for texturing. Since by my research and by my designs I started off by bring in a plane and by using the connect tool to create three new edges going up and down this plane, I selected each vertex as I then used the move tool to get them as much into an arc as possible as I wanted this to be the front of my body which I can then extruded back too help me start creating my body. I then selected the bottom three edges and extruded down ever so slightly. I used target weld to make it so there there a total of three edges at the bottom of the shape as I felt the other two vertexes weren’t needed and therefore to simplify geometry and to make unwrapping this component easier layer on I deleted this vertexes
Using the move tool I extruded away from my plane creating a space where I will be able to Boolean my shotgun shell components out of creating an outline where I could edit the vertexes from. As I got further backwards I started to curve my new extruded edges slightly to create a curve near the end of the body of the weapon, this will help me place the back section of my sights as well. I used the move tool to help me form my shape around the body of the weapon as this. I decided that this was far enough back as I used the scale tool as I scaled in slightly on all the edges and used the bridge tool to fill up the space between all of my selected edges. This did create an N-Gon, as I am putting this asset into unreal I had to make sure to fix this, To fix this I used the connect tool to create new edges with simple geometer as this will help me unwrap my object later on as well as save myself making additional polys.
To help me create the dip into the main body of the weapon where the shotgun shells would be pushed out of, I decided to start off with a cylinder but I went to the attribute editor and changed the subdivision axis to ten. This gives me a 10 sided cylinder which is good as this can be used to Boolean into the side of the main body of my weapon to give me the exiting cartridge for my shotgun.
Here I have shaped my cylinder with the scale and move tool, I have rotated the shape to be on its side and have positioned it to be going through one side of the body but not the other side as I only want the Boolean to active on one side of my shape not on both sides as that would be impractical for me to do. I went to Mesh < Boolean < difference to create the space I needed in my mesh. Doing this boolean has made the mesh have a lot of N-Gons on the side where I did the Boolean however using the connect tool I was able to fix all of these N-Gons which will be helpful for putting it into unreal at a later stage and helps me unwrap this component later.
I selected all of the edges going around the Booleand hole and used the move tool and holding shift I extruded these edges deeper into the hole, not going to far as I didn’t want this to look unrealistic and ruin the look of my model. I then used the bridge tool to fill in the gap that was left from the Boolean and then because this new bridged face was an N-Gon I used the connect tool to fix these N-Gons and to keep the geometry simple si there is a lower amount of polys.
Now that I have created my main body I needed to create the shape that I need for my magazine for the weapon, To do this I selected the bottom 4 faces near the end of my body and used the move tool to extrude those faces downwards, Because of the shape of the body when I extruded downwards the new faces carried on the shape. To fix this I used the scale tool to even all of the faces to an equal level before moving them back up slowly as I didn’t want these faces to be to far down, these are the faces that show the start of the magazine and where the magazine would clip into the weapon not the magazine as a whole.
To create the shotgun shell I started off with a cylinder, I stared with selecting all the faces going around the shape as well as all the faces at the top of the object. I deleted these to just leave the bottom faces as these would be. From here I have selected all the edges around the shape and I extruded outwards, I moved the edges upwards modeling a curve which will serve me as a curve for the base of my shotgun shell.
After finishing making the curve for the base of my shotgun shell I extruded upwards being careful not to go to far to make the shell seem not to short or two long as it would make the object shape unrealistic. From here I extruded the edges again as I made the smooth curve at the top of my shape which would give me a good shape for my shotgun shell asset.
To create the center piece of my shotgun shell asset I started off with a new cylinder as I deleted off all of the faces except the top faces. From here I used the move tool to move this component and scaled it up appropriately as I wanted to get the best possible look for this asset so it looks well in my scene.
To start the tip of my shotgun shell I used the cylinder piece and move it as closely as I could to the center using the center vertex at the bottom of this asset and then slowly moved the faces upwards to a height which I thought was acceptable. I Selected all of the outer edges and slowly extruded downwards a little as this would create the harden tip of my shell that I wanted, From here I extruded outwards using the move tool to pull these new edges away from the tip creating a curve in this component.
I made sure to use the combine tool for the two components and then to go around the shape, using the harden edges tool and soften edges tool as this allows me to smooth my object without the need for more polys and I can therefore greatly improve the look of my asset for my final product scene.
From here I then combined the asset and positioned it to my shotgun to make sure that the asset is to scale with the shotgun, I moved it to the shell ejection tab and used the scale tool to scale. this when places next too my shotgun shell will make the scene seem much more realistic as well as lively, allowing the viewer to sink their emotions when looking into my scene.
To help me create the stock for my shotgun I selected all the faces that were originally at the back of my main body and deleted them. I then extruded downwards so that I could start to mold the body of the fun using the scale tool to start to mold the weapon into shape. I made sure to go wide at the end as this allows me to bevel the edges later on so that the smoothness of the weapon could be recognised.
I then decided to bevel the edges again as this would let me get the shape for the stock and the shape for me to create the back of my stock which will be good as this component can be smooth and to scale which will allow it to gain the shape I will need to pull the edges back an then mold into a stock which will not only be a good scale but also a good shape.
From here I modeled the point where the stock starts to come back inwards which is were the user would start to rest their head when aiming down the sights of the weapon, because of the way I have designed this specific section of the weapon I have used the target weld tool to the edges at the top, this help give me the hard edge that I want but also lowers the poly count for the object which will be very helpful for unwrapping later.
To finalize my stock I have to create the final bulge at the end of the stock which is where the user would press their shoulder into so that they are able to use the weapon accurately and appropriately. To do this I did one final extrusion at the base and used the scale tool to bring these new edges outwards along the Y axis, I spent quite a bit of time deciding the depth of how much this piece should stick out as I really wanted this piece to look right for my final scene, so I payed carefully and close attention. This was then extruded backwards until I found an acceptable length for the stock piece to go before stopping. I used the bridge tool to fill in the end gap with a singular face, this did create an N-gone which I shall fix and edit upon in a moment. To start the final step in the making of this asset I used the connect tool over the new faces and connected the vertexes together so that the back face was no longer an N-Gon.
The final piece for this asset is the curvature on the stock of the weapon to do this I selected the edges going along the X axis on my object and used the connect to to create one edge in the center of my faces. As you can see the edges are not straight with one another, to do my next these edges all had to be straight so to fix this I used the scale tool and scaled in along the Z axis, I then had my straight line which I used the move tool to move slowly into the shape, I stopped after finding a good depth to the edge, this made the object look weird, however I used the bevel too, to increase the number of segments to create a really smooth curve for my stock. I then had an N-gon on either side of the cur. To fix this I used the connect tool to join vertexes and fix the N-gons.
Not that I has all aspects of my model created I spent my time going around my shape going to Mesh Display and then going to “soften edge” or “harden edge” so that I could get the best possible final look for my model, I then unwrapped this model taking my time to make sure all the different UV shells were the same size and that all the faces were unwrapped properly.
Overall I really like this asset, I do however worry that I may have spent far to much time modeling this asset so I have to spend more time texturing this asset to be a major piece inside my final product scene. I have unwrapped this model well, and I hope to use some of the textures I have started making in substance designed to elements of this weapon so that I can give it the best possible final look.
Creating my Shop Door asset
To start creating my door asset I started off with a simple cube as this was the most closely resembled shape I could get. I used the scale tool to scale up my shape so that it was much larger in height and length, but I made sure to keep the width of this shape to be quite thin, selecting the front and back faces only meant that I could scale inwards, I used the scale tool and held the shift key to move the facing wards, essentially creating a new face along the same level as the main face, I would then use the scale tool against the X-axis so that I could extruded the faces inwards which I can then use as the window panels inside my shop windows for people to look through
Here I have the finished door piece here we can see the two windows at the top and the bottom as well as the gap between then which will be textures to look realistic and glossy based of my planning, for this I now have to create the extrusion that will serve as the outer door frame as well as the handles for the doorway.
To start creating my door handles I started off with a basic cylinder, I went to the subdivision axis and changed the number of sides 16 as this would lower the amount of edges going all the way around my shape as well I started off by extruding my edges outwards and then rotating them by 30 degrees before exuding giving me a slight curve. I then selected all the edges going around my shape and used the bevel tool, beveling these edges by 2 segments and moved them all to 1 so that the edges at the bottom of my shape merged together and placed the asset one side of my doorway. I then went to Mesh Display and then went to Soften edge which made the handle look smooth and nice to combine with my door asset.
With one door handle built I duplicated the objected and flipped it around placing it in the same position on the other side of my door asset. I deleted the bottom face of my door as this face would not be seen by the viewer and I no longer need this face. I then selected all of the other faces going around my shape and extruded them out slowly till I found an acceptable length this was not to short to make the door seem massive in comparison and not to tall that the to make the shop look as it before selecting the two new sides to the newly made faces and then extruded them out in opposite directions using the scale tool to create the necessary bulge needed to form the outer door frame.
The broken Door Changes
To create the broken glass effect I started with with a place square, I simply needed a plain to try and mold the shame from moving the vertexes to a shame that would look as the hole for my broken glass. After this I used the shape to Boolean through the mesh of the door where the top window was as this would make it look as if the window smashed through, I used the target weld tool to merge some of the vertex together on the final result making it look as if it had sharp points that would be dangerous and perhaps fatal with enough force making the shop scene seem dangerous for the user to enter.
Building the room
To start building my room I stared off with a plane and moved the edges to elongate the shape using the scale tool to stretch them out evenly before using the move and rotate tool to extrude the edges upwards little mu little to move the faces into the shape of the curve that would serve as the barrist between the sidewalk and the road I extruded the edge toward the shop door placing it roughly half way between each side of the asset to which I then extruded the edges back again to create the base floor for my shop.
I selected the four faces going around the floor plane of my shop before extruding them upwards slowly, making sure that the top edges would be on the same level as the top of my door frame and windows before bridging the face at the top using the bridge tool, I deleted the face on the same level as the shop door and windows as this.
Making My Shop Window
To make my shop window I started off with a cube shape as this was most reminiscent to the final shape I wanted. I started off by selecting the top face and moving it to be the same level as the door asset so that these will fill up the top of my store front without the need for an extra wall.
Creating The Broken Effect
To create the broken glass effect I started with with a plane square, I simply needed a plain to try and mold the shame from moving the vertexes to a shame that would look as the hole for my broken glass. After this I used the shape to Boolean through the mesh of the door where the top window was as this would make it look as if the window smashed through, I used the target weld tool to merge some of the vertex together on the final result making it look as if it had sharp points that would be dangerous and perhaps fatal with enough force making the shop scene seem dangerous for the user to enter and to give the effect that the shop has been attacked and ransacked.
Making My Outside Shop Sign Asset
To start off with mt design for mt outside shop sign asset I decided to start from the middle and to work my way out. I started off with creating the panel for this asset, to do this I started off with a cube and used the scale tool to thin this shape so that it was quite thin in width but not too thin to make it seem like the panel would break like plastic or something and made sure I got a good proportion to length to height so that the shape of this component would look good as well as being realistic. I selected the edges going around my shape as I beveled them with 5 lines for each corner and made sure I was able to get a smooth curve on each corner so that the signs look nicer in my scene. I then had to delete the two faces on either side of the panel as these faces were now N-Gons because I beveled the edges, to fix this I extruded each side of the panel inwards and used “Merge To Center” so that all the faces were joined by one vertex in the center of my face which is also very easy to unwrap later on for both sides of my panel.
My thoughts then turned onto the infrastructure of this asset, specifically the pole that loops round the panel so that it can hold the panel to the base. To create this I started off with a cylinder and deleted the top faces I then positioned this next to my panel but not to far so that there would be a huge gap between the bar and the panel. I moved the top edges of the shape upwards just above the panel before I extruded 3 times each time rotation the angle of these edges by 30 degrees to get me a little curvature for the pole. I then beveled the two edges that were rotated at 30 degrees and 60 degrees to soften the curve. I duplicated this object and re-positioned it to the other side of the panel, making sure the end of the pole was in the opposite direction of my first pole which made the two ends face directly at each other. I used the bridge tool to combine these two shapes and to finish the basic shape of this pole going around my panel as well as softening any edges that needs to be soften to give this component the best possible look that I could give it.
Now that I have created the pole as well as the panel m thought turned to the chains that hold the two components together. To start creating these components I started off with the bulge that is in the pole that the chains would be welded too to keep them all together. To create this I started off with a cylinder, I rotated it onto its side and then used the scale tool the shorten the length of this component till it was more wide than long. I then moves this components to the top of the mole and scaled it up till it was a firm height above the faces from the pole. I made sure not to make the distance between them to little or too great because this would ruin the effect I was trying to give to this asset using this component. I made sure to position it so that it the component was just above the panel in a location that is neither to far out that creating the chains and placing them would become a problem but not to close together to make the asset look as realistic as possible.
To create the chains I started off with a new cylinder but I went to the attribute editor and change the subdivision axis to 10 so that this asset would only have ten edges going around it, making it easier for unwrapping as well as well as ensuring that there aren’t any unnecessary polys on this component. I then deleted the top and bottom faces effectively creating a tube out of the cylinder I extruded 3 times each time rotation the angle of these edges by 30 degrees to get me a little curvature for the chain, from here I mirrored the chain to give me half of the asset. I deleted the line in the middle of the chain component as it was no longer useful for me and duplicated the object rotating it around exactly 180 degrees and used the bridge tool to join all of the top and bottom edges creating the chain shape as well as combining the two components before selecting all edges off this component and soften the edges to make the asset look as smooth as possible which also helps make it look as realistic as possible.
Now that I have created my chain I have the means to place them connecting to the pole however I do not have the means to connect them to the panel itself. To fix this I Created a new cylinder and used the scale tool to make this cylinder longer, I mover this asset to the panel and rotated it 90 degrees so that the cylinder go right through my panel, I placed the first one right below the bulge which I had on my pole, I then duplicated the cylinder and moved the second one right underneath the bulge on the other side of the panel and combined them. I then used Boolean < Difference into the panel itself to get the holes needed so that I can place my chain components through them. This created a few N-gons which I fixed using the connect tool on both sides giving me the look and size I need to make the chain component work with the panel component to give my asset the best look possible.
Now that I have the hole in my panel as well as the bulge on the pole surrounding the panel I have to now place and position my chain components. I started off by unwrapping my original chain component before duplicating the object as this will carry over the UV and allow me to create a separate texture for my chain assets. I was able to create a short chain length of 3 chains that connect the pole to the panel as well as been able to position these components to look like they are realistic and are actually holding up the panel. After positioning these assets I duplicated them and positioned the duplicates to the other side of the panel so that it looks as realistic as possible.
To create the base of the shop sign, To create this component I have started off with a cylinder, I initially removed all of the top faces and all of the faces that are going around my shape. I selected the outer edges and slowly extruded upwards, I then stooped and re extruded upwards again slowly before selecting the move tool and moving pairs of vertexes inwards to create a curve going along the shape as well as a slight curve heading towards the center of the shape. after using the bridge tool on the remaining gap I used the connect to to make the geometry of the component smooth and good looking. then after this I finished this component off by softening and hardening certain edges to that my asset can have the best look possible.
Tin Can
To start With making my Tin can asset I started off with a cylinder as this gave me the closest shape that I needed to the final product. With this product the first thing I proceeded to do was to scale the object up and then to scale it along the Y axis to make the asset seem slightly longer, I then selected all of the faces at the top as I can then use this gap to help me create the space I need to create the dips that I was for my tin can to have. With this new game I selected all the surrounding edges and extruded in a little before extruding inwards again just by a little more. This give me the middle line I want so that I can create the dip going all the way around my tin can lid before extruding inwards one final time and going to Edit Mesh < Merge To Center.
With my new middle edge I used the move tool to slowly lowed the edge going all the way around my shape giving the top of the asset a little dip. Using this edge I then used the bevel tool to soften and curve the dip into the mesh so that my model looks good while still having the two outer edges around the shape so that the look of my asset isn’t ruined. I have done this as this dip would be where the dip where the user would use a can opened to cut through to get the contents inside which makes the asset not only look more practical but also much more realistic.
Since I now had the top of my tin can asset modeled, I wanted to do the same for the bottom as my research on the asset shows that the top of a tin of a product is pretty much the same as the bottom of the same tin. I found the easiest was to do this was to use what I have already made. I therefore selected all of the edges going around my asset as well as all of the faces at the bottom of my asset and deleted them.
Now I had just the top of my tin can asset, I selected all of the outer edges and extruded them downwards slowly till I got about half way of the height I wanted my asset to be. I then went to Mesh < Mirror to mirror the object along the Y axis so that I could have my finished asset design, after this it was a simple matter of softening and hardening the edges going around my asset to give it its final look.
Here I have the final unwrap of my tin can asset, I have made sure that all the UV shells are equal size compared to each other and that all the shells are in the space needed so that I am able to texture this asset to the best of my ability to make it look good in my final scene. this was a simple asset to make but with a basic textures it will give the idea that the price of these was meant to be cheap to buy.
Setting Up My Substance Painter
Here I have started to set up my substance painter, I have been sure to organise all of my models, files and folders so that all my work is carefully organised so that I cant lose any work.To start texturing I started off with creating a new project. I wanted to make sure I had the right template, to do this I selected template “PBR Metallic Roughness Alpha-Blend” as I think that this template will help me get the best possible results for my texturing to make my assets look their best for the final scene. From here I had to get the FBX file which I had reexported from Maya as this will help me be able to texture my model in a 3D scene and be to put my unwrap in the UV space into the application. From here it was a matter of the resolution I wanted for my textures which I have changed based around all different application.
Setting up my Photoshop Work-Space
Due to recent my college has closed down with the spread of Covid-19, I was given a laptop on lend so that I may finish my work, however after much experimenting and testing on the new device it has come to my attention that the laptop is not up to spec, because of this substance painter and designer simply will not work on this device and I simply put do not have a new device and cent order a new laptop or PC to arrive with enough tine to set it up and hand in all my work on time, after exhausting every other option I sadly have no choice but to texture my final models with the Photoshop application.
To therefore bring my UVs into Photoshop I have had to go back to every asset I have and I have had to re export the UV unwraps as a PNG file, I kept the image size as 2048 pixels as these would be the same as if I completed these assets in substance designer. unfortunately this does mean I have lost all progress with my substance designer files and I don’t believe the textures will be anywhere near as good but I still hope to move my assets into my scenes and to have textures onto them by the end of the following week. I created a new folder in side each asset folder names UVS which contains the different unwraps I have completed. From here I imported each UV, one UV per Photoshop file, which I then paints and draw over so that, this of course hand painted textures, but I shall not bother with the normal maps and only the metallic and roughness maps with certain assets to help with time management for these products.
Cash register
To start off with creating ym cash register asset I started off with a simple cube shape as this shape would be most practical and much easier to mold into the shape I wanted. I started off by beveling all the edges by 2 segments as this would give me edges on both sides of the origioal edge and felt this would be enough edges to make the asset seem like it was curved nicely. I then had to use the scale tool to get a recatangular shape on my asset to help me get the shape for the back of my cash register.
After that I extrused fowards, I moved the top edge downwards on my shape as this would give the slope needed to give the cash regster a good look and to have resembelence to other cash registers. I beveled the edge at the bottom of the curver as a way to ease up the curve for my asset, I then used the move tool to help me extrude foowards and then using the scale tool to extrude inwards. I did this as it would give me the space to put in the cash draws that would be needed to help me complete this asset which I shall start building later. On the slanted facea nd using the scale tool extrude inwards and move this shape towards the top left side of the face as this would be the macheine. I then had to use the scale tool again to scale an inside shape to become an inner recatangular shape whihc I used the moved tool when centered on the compinent deeper into the shape, this will give the effect that this peice is infact the receipt slot when the reipt would slide out at the end of a purchase making my asset look much more realistic. I finished this compont off by harderning and softening the appropisate edges on the Mesh Display tab which helped make my component look much better.
To help me get the start of my cash register keys I started off with a cube as this was the most practacal shape to start off with. I starte doff by selecting the component and using the scale tool to scale the sixe of my compoent upwards, I selected the bottom face to this asset and deleted the face as it wasnt needed, I knew this face wasnt gonna be seen by the veiwer, doing this not only saves me space in the file as it lowers the total poly count but it would save up space in the UV when it comes to unwrapping this object but would also help be understand my unwrapping easier too.
With the new shape sorted I selected all the emaining edges around this asset and beveled them, with a segment of two as it would allow the origional curve to remain but a new edge on either side which I could soften later on so that this compents looks the best it can look. For now I moved this to the side as I shall place these compnets later but as I knew I was going to duplicate this asset quite a number of times I made sure that I unwrapped this component before deplictaing it later on just to make sure I didnt forget to unwrapp it if I hadnt already.
To start creating my cash tray I started off with the curved shape I had made earlier and I extended upon this shape by extruding ouwatds before using the bridge tool to fill in the remaining edges, thes would leave the large open space in the middle but with the borders for the inside and the outside of my cash tray component. I made sure to select the edges of the outer faces and using the move tool I dragged the faced dowards just a little further thank the faces on the inside borders of my cash draw, I selected off the edges at the bottom of my inside faces and extruded inwards with the scale tool before going to Edit Mesh < Merge To Center which combined all the edges to one vertex in the center, I did this because this technique was not only simple to complete but it also was really quick to finish as well as it doent allow any N-gons to be made and if I wanted to I could lower the polt count slightly by editing the edges, but in this case I deceied not to as I saw these few extra edges no problem for me.
The next stage for my cash draw was to create the segements needed for the compnent to look as if it is divided up for the spaces for the differnt amounts of money that would be stored in the compnent and would also be good for the veiwer to look at as these would help make the asset seem much more realisic. I added edges onto the top of these components so that the edges look smothed which will make this component look more practical and safer like the veiwers would want if they were in my scene in real life. All of these borders on the inside have the exact same mesh wish is good news for me as this means when it comes to unwrapping because I have already unwrapped the origional it means that all I will have to do is select the shells and move them all totgether while they’re stacked which will save me space in the UV space.
The next component for my cash register is the display screen, to start making this component I started off with a cylinder, with this shape I selected all the top and bottom faces leaving behind a tube shape, I used the scale tool to squish the component on the X-axis as this would help this look much more sturdy for my final scene. To start with creating a new front monitor Istarted off with a new cube asset, I usedthe scale toolt on edit my shape to be much thinner, selecting all the edges goijg around my shape I then beveled them all with a segment number of 4 and then selected all the front and back facing edges and beveled them with 2 segements essentially curving the edges on wither side till I had a nice smooth shells for me to edit upon. of course the front and faces are now N-gons as they have more thank 4 sides because of the bevel I have done. to fix these I started off with deleting the back face and selected the edges sutrrounding the previous face where I used the scale tool and extruded inwards before merging to the center, which essentially fixed my N-gon issue I had for my back face. For my front face I used the scale tool to select all of the outer edges and extruded them in slightly, before switching to the move tool and extrused the edges again further into the shape wich will give me the egdes needed for the tip in the monitor screen to show the casing around it before using the scale tool to extrude inwards again which gave me my final shape for this component.
To create the main monitor for this asset I started with a simple cube which I knew I could easily mold into the shape I wanted for my compnent. With this shape I started ff with selecting the bottom faces and used the scale tool to exoabd the botom face along the X-axis and then selected all the whole shape amd used the scale toon to thin the general shape as this would help me make the shape shape that I would need to help me make this project look realistic as well as I would be able to add effects, such as emissive and normal maps which will help me enhance the looks of my assets. I then deleted the bottom face as this face was no longer needed in the making process I had in place to create this asset and would only worsen and rather get in the way of my process if I did not remove this face at this stage. I selected all of the edges on this shape and used the bevel tool to help me smooth the edges, I chose to add two segmets to add two edges around each of the origional edges which will smooth the look of my shape, I played around with the edgements to widen theseg gapps between each edge a little more so that the component looked smooth and therefore looks safe for my finished asset. With this shape to create the auctual screen that will be textuered to look proper, and realisic, to create this screen I started off with selecting the foward face and used the scale tool to extrude the face inwards and then used the move too to extrude into the shape. I made sure to make the monitor shape not to small the product would be unbeleivable and to make sure that the product looks realistic that the moitor looks a good size as well as a good size for me to texture upon. I then selected the back bottom vertxex and used the roatate tool to move them up firther into the shape and made the edges on the same level with eachother before positioning my component onto my main cash register asset before using the combine tool to combine these two meshes into one object.
For the final component for my cash register asset was my buttons, because these keys will be neededto be unwrapped neatly, but the UV shells cant be stacked as they willbe textuered with different symbols A few of which I have already made my alphas for to help me work out my normal maps. I reated these peices by creting annew cube as this was the shape that most closely resembeled the shape I needed for my final product. I started off by selecting and removing the bottom face of the cuve as the face wouldnt be seen by any of the veiwers looking at my assets, I then belevled all the remaining edges to smooth my shape and then I unwrapped my shells which was better to do this before I start duplicating the assets as these will then no wcarry the unwrap with them, I then dupliaceted my shape till I had my shapes organisedto how I wanted my cash register to look and the kwys to be placed to the shape and size of how I wanted them to look. now all I have to do is to finish my unwrapp and start texturing my assets.
Since I have started to texture my assets in photoshop creathing the maps needed for my models are very difficult to make, to try and get emissive maps to work and to work well I have found to be, somewhat tedious, and not always accurate to what I want. I have been maiing the roughness maps, metalicic and of course base colour, normal maps I just cant seem to get right when trying to get them down with the other maps needed, I have tried and even followed a few turotioals. It worries me about this as I am not a very good drawer or any good with my hands, Because of this I have been only making metalic base colour and roughness maps for my models, this help me with the time needed for me to hand paint my textuers onto my UV’s.
Getting my assets and textuers into my scenes.
After I started getting my assets into my scene I already had them to scale to I had to spend a small amount of time around the ascene placing my assets and then collecting ym maps all totgether in my hypershade. However as we can see from these few screenshots the UV shells didnt seem to quite match up with the textuers wich looked perfectly fine in photoshop, I did go back and check, I fear that this has been done due to some kind of size mixup with me, however I have edited the UV shells to fit the texture maps to try and fix these issues.
This issue is somewhat weird to explain, as we can see the photoshop document is textuered, howvere when I applied the model onto the mesh in maya, we can see that now all the texture is all there, I thought of this immediately as it seems that the background colour of the Uv that I have imported into photoshop was also whire, we can see that I have changed the colour at the top above the lable to more of a grey colour than a white, however this didnt work, it seems I would have to compleltly change colour for this asset, something of which I am now wiling to do, for the value of time and confidence in this product.
The final problem I had wa with 1 texture in perticutular, over these screenshots we can see that the text on my panel there are kinda messed up as ther text appears to be missing and replaced with a red glop of paint, I went back into the hypershade and changed the map, to my surpise it was the same map that was already selected, we can see in the screenshot that the panel section of UV shells have text and therefore should have text on my models, but when I came back the rain paint of glob was still there I changed the UV shells which made almost no difference, I even checked the UV editor incased I missed a UV level on this asste, but no, asking around online people seem to have their head stumped, so I cant seem to explain this or fix the problem as of now.
Weekly Diary
With this weekly diary I can keep track of what I complete and when. This will help me manage my time appropriately and will also help me keep a track of tasks of what I have yet to complete.
Week 3: 24/02/20
What have I done this week
This week was the first week of me starting the development of my project, I have almost finished up with my visual idea and tests ijn an effort to get ahead I have been working at home and well into the morning if possible, trying to complete the work to an acceptable level to allow myself more time to work on my project, my hope is that the end result will be the project scenes completed to a high standard in unreal engine and ready a full week before the final hand in which gives me time for blog work and possible work that may need to be fixed or work that I could improve on, visual particles for example. This week I have started creating the folder structure for my files while will maintain my work is highly organised to avoid mistakes happening at a later date as well as I have started to create the base model for my soft drink can, haven’t got very far as of yet, got little more than a blockout but I shall work on editing that mesh on Monday.
What can I do next week
Next week I must finish off the two layouts for my scene as well as the 15 colour ideas I have left. I will be attempting to continue upon modelling my soft drink can as well as keeping the annotations up to date.
Weekly evaluation
This week has been a very good week, I’m quite proud to have got this far in so little time, weekly diary has been set up and must keep a log of what’s to come. I had an idea about creating some alphas in photoshop to help with my texturing in substance painter later. Must take these thoughts into consideration.
Week 4: 02/03/20
What have I done this week
This week I have been continuing on with my modeling, I have finished all variations of colour designs and all images have been uploaded, annotations are still needed which I will try to do over this week I have been continuing with my modelling, I have finished all variations of colour designs and all images have been uploaded, annotations are still needed which I will try to do over the weekend. Finished making my soft drink can and unwrapped the asset, I have also modified this asset and unwrapped them all to create my three variants of my soft drink can. The wood grain substance designer file is coming along, need to work out how to add colour to different sections, but I’ll try and do that in a few weeks’ time. I have also modelled and unwrapped my stop sign asset ready for texturing. This week I have also managed to model and fully unwrap the outside shot sign asset, I have exported the FBX file appropriately, I have also modelled the chains that hold the panel to the skeletal structure as a different UV which of course means that I had to export them as a separate FBX file which I have also put into its own designated area.
What can I do next week
Tasks for next week is to continue with the annotations for my visual ideas and tests and to create the two layouts for my scenes, upload them and annotate them before the next diary update on Friday.
Weekly evaluation
This week has been rather productive. I have been learning from my past substance designer files about how substance painter works, I have been expirementing with the application and beileve I have already got a heavily damadged wall and near prestine wall textuers that I could very well use when it comes to texturing my assets.I have got a wood grain texture which I think would work very well wThis week has been rather productive. I have been learning from my past substance designer files about how substance painter works, I have been experimenting with the application and believe I have already got a heavily damaged wall and near pristine wall textures that I could very well use when it comes to texturing my assets. I have got a wood grain texture which I think would work very well with the window ledges to give the shop an old feel to its structure as well as possibly the shotgun in my second scene. the wall need a bit more work but I’ll have to work on them on Thursday next week when I’m next in the LRC, the wood grain needs a bit of tweaking but overall I’m really learning the application and I can’t wait to see what these will look like on my finished models, my shotgun has been fully unwrapped but I think it looks a bit too low poly, I have added changes to the weapon but I wanted it to keep its own old and grainy feel to it so I didn’t edit it too much
Week 5: 09/03/20
What have I done this week
Completely modeled the milk carton asset, sreenshots and annotaions have also been completed on mCompletely modelled the milk carton asset, screenshots and annotations have also been completed on my blog. The milk bottle asset is almost done however the bottle cap is proving to be somewhat… tricky to complete without a lot of edges and vertexes. Ill must give this component some thought before continuing with this asset piece, the bottle component is finished and ready to unwrap, but I’d rather wait till the asset is complete and combine before completing the unwrap.
What can I do next week
Complete the milk bottle cap component and then harden/soften the edges before unwrapping, once that is done it shall complete this asset for the time being. start with the shotgun asset and if time is spared, complete the shotgun shell asset in the same file for better ratio in scale between the body of the weapon and the ammunition. unwrap the weapon and be sure to add annotations fully before the end of the week. BE sure to complete the two layouts, haven’t done them yet. no excuse, just haven’t completed them yet, get them done over the weekend if possible or in class, in self-directed study as they are due in next Friday 4pm.
Weekly evaluation
Overall, this week have gone fast, I have added things to my task 1 and task 2 to bump up my grade to a merit level for university. I have managed to complete the annotations for my final colour ideas and check over the blog to see mistakes I had made and corrected as necessary. I have also started come up with a few mental plans about how I intend to make my shotgun asset, it’s so far going to be a few component combined to have the same UV space, I hope to make the body the same as my stock component but I think I have a way on how to create the stuck and body as one piece.
There are worries that the college will be closing down, I hope this isn’t the case due to resources and time management, to try and get as much done before the college ends up closing if the “coronavirus” situation gets any worse.
Week 6: 16/03/20
What have I done this week
This week I have created most of my shotgun asset, the current load of screenshots is up online and ready to be annotated which I hope to get at least half done over the weekend as I have plans in place this weekend. I have been able to create all the components for my shotgun asset apart from the stock, I have also modelling the shotgun shell asset and unwrapped the asset, I have placed its FBX file in the appropriate file directory to help me keep my work organised.
This week I have also managed to work out and model my bottle cap asset, the asset is fairly high poly but I think these amount of polys are not that much of a problem and leave a very nice shape to it, the only flaw with it is that it took me so ling to work out and model the component, but not the milk bottle asset has been completed and unwrapped fully.
What can I do next week
Within the next week I want to start modelling the building and structure assets, I want to start with making the shop door and unwrapping the finished product and then the shop window, while the shop window will be an easy shape to make I will have to model both of these assets before I start by creating the broken variants of these assets to go into my second scene, I also want to finish the shotgun asset with the stock and unwrap the complete asst ready for texturing. While all the annotations for now are up to date I do not wish to fall behind, because of this I will be annotating my screen shots as I go with my modelling.
Weekly evaluation
This week the college has got its news that the college will be closing down due to the “coronavirus” spreading worldwide, as a way to keep everyone safe we are now being ordered to work from home, fortunately because of my lack of hardware I have been given a laptop to borrow from the college, ready for use, I’ve have been told it can handle the application I will need which means that I will now be able to work from home, I will hopefully be able to put in more time into my products to make them look good, and I have in mind a few assets I could add into my project if I have the time left. I have now had this laptop for day and I have already set up with all the sign details, and have installed substance painter, designer, Maya 2019 and unreal 4 as well as have a number of online websites and applications set up such as word, chrome, google drive, Spotify and discord which will all help me keep in contact with people for help and advice as my project continues.
Overall, this week I have got on with somewhat decent progress, however it has come to my attention that I have missed the Harvard referencing from my first few weeks of research, I must work on fixing this and I have added this task as things to do in the future weeks.
Week 7: 23/03/20
What have I done this week
This week has been rather an unproductive week; however, I have still been able to create the shop doorway and door itself, the asset has been unwrapped and the FBX has been exported appropriately. The shop window has been modelled and exported as well and the duplicates have been set in place ready to be edited to create the broken windows wanted for my scene. I have also finished the shotgun stock, the model has not (as I’m writing this) been unwrapped, but I do intent to get this done tonight/over the weekend and then to be exported appropriately.
What can I do next week
Over the next week I must make up for the time that I have lost. Because of this I will have to work on my shotgun asset, I have finished the modelling, I will have to work on unwrapping this asset within the next week. I will also have to work on creating the broken variants for my shop door and shop window, I have created a 4 different shapes to be the shattered glass pieces which I can duplicate and spread around my scene at a later date. I will have to continue with my modelling, but at this rate I will be onto my texturing within the week which I feel quite excited for.
Weekly evaluation
This week has been rather unproductive, due to the coronavirus closing the college down along with a number of issues, some personal, some not, I am relocating up to live with my family in surrey, because of this I spent a day packing, a day and a half traveling with stuff and two days unpacking my stuff into my new rooms, because of this I haven’t had the chance to get much work done, I have been able to get some pieces of my work completed and I have been making sure to upload the screenshots as well as the annotations at the same time to not fall behind, because of this I will have to try to get more than enough work done y next week, I have received an update from the college (via discord) that an extension is possible which would be nice to have as it means that I can continue making new assets that I could add to my final scene. However, one encounter I did not expect is with substance designer, the application seems to be crashing unexpectedly, while I haven’t spent that much time playing with the application yet I must see if it’s a problem with my work of if the file is corrupt, as I want to edit my previous files and export them ready to apply these textures onto my models.
Week 8: 30/03/20
What have I done this week
This week I have been working on my modelling in an effort try to finish the section and move onto texturing my assets. This week I have finished the unwrapping of my shotgun asset and I have exported the FBX file accordingly, the folder structure has been updates as I felt the miscellaneous files were a bit scattered around, I organised the new files with new folders which will be most helpful at a later date. I have made the building for my scene and unwrapped the building, I have used the Unreal man as a reference for height and scale for my main building. Over the last few days, I have been trying to watch YouTube tutorials about photoshop so I can learn/recap how to use the application as I have now to use photoshop for my texturing, I’m starting to get the hang of the application, a few more hours before I can try to texture a few maps for my assets.
What can I do next week
Over the next week I hope to start with my texturing, as I now have all my assets modelling and unwrapped, I am going to texture them all at the same resolution of 2048 X 2048 pixels so I can try to texture some detail into my maps. I also hope to try and learn how to use my previous alphas and to get them into some of my UV documents to add the effect in.
Weekly evaluation
Unfortunately, this week I have hit what appears to be a major setback for me. This week I have learnt that the laptop given to me by the college is not able to handle substance painter correctly, because of this fault it makes substance painter unusable, when I asked the friend who helped me he also explained it was why substance designer was frequently crashing and the 3D viewer wasn’t working at all. Because of this I have been doing research into what other applications I could use. This is rather annoying as I have wasted time creating alphas to use in my final scene as well as the substance designer stuff, I have logged my thought on this in my evaluation section which I will edit later, in the mean time I have decided to continue on with my texturing with photoshop, I will be spending some time to learn a bit more about Photoshop with my soft drink can asset in order to try and learn what the Ui does and how it can help me to create decent textures for my models, I immediately realise how hard it will be as I would have to not only create the different variants but I would also have to work on creating all the maps emissive, opacity, metallic, roughness, height, normal, base colour, texture maps. I know my hand painting skills are not that good but I must try to create decent textures for my models, because of this change my scene will no longer have a realistic look to the assets, but instead a semi realistic look for my assets which will help save me time when texturing.
Week 9: 20/04/20
What have I done this week
Over the course of this week I have been able to texture quite a few assets of mine, I have however had to spend far longer on each asset than I am comfortable with, the textures I have come up so far for my stop sign, the two texture variants for my tin can and the three variants for my milk bottle assets look quite decent, however creating all the maps for an asset is very difficult, the normal maps in particular, while photoshop does have a generate normal map or a generate bump map option, even after making what looks to be a pretty good normal map by basing it off of the base colour map, one I have texted these maps by putting them into Maya the end results don’t seem to make that much of a difference, I can’t really see any effect from using this map.
Because of this I have decided to go against from using this again as of this moment I see this as a very useful tool, but the results are disappointing.
What can I do next week
Over the course of the next week I want to continue with my texturing as well as to place all my assets in the fame mays file as I must present my finished product. I have a few of my models textures now and the models look pretty good so far, however because they take so long and I’m still not totally thrilled with the end results I must focus on texting my assets, the Harvard referencing still needs to be completed witch once again completely slipped my mind, I must get this done before the hand in and the quicker I get the referencing done the sooner I can focus completely onto the texturing.
Weekly evaluation
Overall, this week feels like it has been so long, the normal maps I have been testing with have been rather disappointing, I am however getting better at using photoshop and understanding the application. I am getting better at learning where the components are and how to structure my layers. Overall I think I’m settling into photoshop quite well, but I think I must spend more time using the application and getting on with my texturing, even if they do take a while I want most of my textures done by the end of the week. That’s my goal for the moment, the deadline is in two week’s time and I can only hope nothing else goes wrong or any mistakes are made.
Week 10: 27/04/20
What have I done this week
This week I have been focusing on texturing my assets. I have been completing my Harvard referencing in my bibliography, I have made sure to reference the images that I have used in my research as well as to ling the original image to the reference so that the viewers can check the references properly. I have also completed the texturing and exported the maps for the shotgun and shotgun shell assets the outside shop sign assets as well as the doors and windows, because these were similar assets with basically the same colour ideas I wanted to keep these 4 assets relatively simple in their textures. I have started to put all my assets in the same Maya file, and I have started to place my assets in the same areas as my layouts suggested
What can I do next week
As the hand in is in a weeks’ time I must now work on applying my textures into my models and then I must complete the final product presentation section in my blog.
Weekly evaluation
As of this week I have finished creating a new asset of a fire hydrant, this will be textured skimpily to help give my scene give the a feeling as if the shop was in a civilian area which I think will help me show off my modelling skills and how I pay attention to the details as I did spend a bit to long from my own time to create this asset. However, I think this asset in my scene will help me convey the fear and chaoticness of my second scene.
Week 11: 4/05/20
What have I done this week
Over the course of this week I have been applying the textures onto my models in Maya. I have had a few problems with my work and trying to understand what went wrong was confusing, I have got all my assets into one Maya scene and I have created all the textures needed in my hyper shade, I have also uploaded my screenshots of my final scene and I have updated the finished have also updated my final product presentation page on my blog.
What can I do next week
Over the next week I will be spending my time to create a detailed evaluation to the different aspects about this project and how it went which I have much to talk about in a variety of factors but this may also be a way to help me bump up my grade.
Weekly evaluation
Overall, I’m really happy that I was able to get it all into Maya and position all the assets to create at least a somewhat organised scene. The textures seem to be rather messy on a few assets and I have removed a few assets from this scene for the value of time, however I can’t really say I’m happy with the final product and how it looks.
Adam Nunns 2nd year Wordpress blog 