Asset Production

Pod-racer Asset Production

For the final assignment, we were asked to create an asset production model in 3ds Max, Blender or Maya. The asset model could be from a selected list of items with included a ship. For my model, I went with modeling a sci-fi ship or pod-racer. I started by looking up different images of pod racers to get an idea of my design, after a few images, I found a star war light-saber which I liked and made it so the pod-racer would have that shape.

Once I had my idea for my model I went into 3ds Max and started modeling. The first part of the model started with the outer case of the engine. Using a cylinder as the starting base, from there I moved the vertices to fit the shape as when as added and remove edges to help create the shape. Once I had created the outer shell, I Boolean out the circle to create the hole in the sides, after all, that I shelled the plane to turn it into a 3ds model and add more edges to make sure the turbo-smooth worked well. I repeated this process for the reset of the 3d model. The may tools I used to help get my results were loops, insert, extrude, bevel as well as swift loop. Symmetry helped a lot with creating this model as it reduced the amount of work needed to complete the model.

The easy part was done, the model had been complete and ready to be UV Unwrapped before texturing in quixel. At the start I was using 2016 to UV Unwrap which wasn’t fun and very very time consuming, Stephen our teacher/producer helped me a lot with this process by telling me to use 2017 as the UV Unwrapper is so so so much better. When I started using 2017 it was so much easier and better than 2016, UV was fun and easy, allowing me to create seam easily as well as loop edge and point to point seams. Peel Mode was amazing and the fact that it updated the UV map as you added seams which are even more amazing. However one of the best adds to 2017 was Area Distortion which shows how your UV unwrapped looked on the model by showing colors where it was stretching which helps a lot to fix problems in the unwrap.

White or clean means good, red and blue mean stretch if they are very dark.

Before going to quixel I had to create an ID map for my model to allow quixel to see the different parts of the model for me to texture. After that, I export my model out as an obj file and made sure tris were added to my model as quixel is known to mess up the tris in a modeling and reverse the view.

After the UV Unwrapping, ID and exporting the fun part was last, this is the first time using quixel to texture and at the start the textures and materials they offer are great lots to choose from to make your model look very nice. It took me a bit to get used to quixel and I still haven’t learned everything it could possibly do which will be great to learn as practices using it more in the future.

What helped a lot with learning quixel was a tutorial by Mike Acosta that explained a lot about how quixel worked and how to get your model in 3ds max to work in quixel.

With everything done I either could render out a mp4 of my model with the texture or use sketchfab a site that allows you to upload your model with texture, to which people are able to rotate and view your model themselves.

Link to the model on sketchfab: https://skfb.ly/S8Cu

3D Production Pipeline – Pirates Gold Project

3D Production Pipeline – Pirates Gold Project

Pre-Production

For this project, the task was to create an Ad for the Pirates Gold Board Game, at the start we were given a storyboard as well as most of the completed assets which were going to be used in the scene. One asset which we needed to create in over to complete the project scope was a pirate chest which would be the main asset in the scene.

3D Modelling

With all of the other assets already modeled and textured for us, the only asset needed to be left was the pirate chest. For the chest, we were given an example tutorial to follow to create a chest that would fit the scene and theme of the Ad. We were given some freedom in creating our own version of the chest however the other chest didn’t fit the style and theme. The chest was created in 3ds Max using a few of the basic tools Max has to offer, like extruding faces, chamfer edges as well as looping.

Mapping

Once the pirate chest had been modeled, the next set was to UV Unwrap the model for texturing as placing a texture onto this model without a UV Map would look bad. The UV unwrapping took the longest time to complete as creating a high-quality map takes time if you are just starting to learn it and having a high-quality map helps a lot when texturing later onward.

Texturing

After the UV Map had been created and render out to a targa file we then moved it into Photoshop to begin texturing. For the texturing of this pirate chest, we were also given a tutorial as well as a color palette to help paint the chest in order to fit the style and theme of the other assets.

For this project I added in a cartoon wood texture to give it a different look from the one in the video tutorial.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/a1/92/17/a19217cf19b94ba46e6aadc28140279c.jpg

Rigging

For this project rigging wasn’t needed for the assets, everything had a low animation list so adding rigs would have taken too much time for something that wasn’t needed. Instead, the animation on the assets was done by linking the models together, doing this didn’t join the model into one, instead made it that if something was linked to another model both of them would move together. This helped a lot with the crab so we didn’t have to move each piece separately. Other assets like the chest had their pivot point moved to make the chest top rotate from the end instead of the center.

Animation

With there being on rigging animation was simple but it still took time, having a rig although more complicated makes animating easier as each part would work together. For this, the animation was mainly moving object around or into the scene and then using the curve editor in Max to make the animation look more smooth. In addition to that, I also using a modifier like a bend, stretch and twist to make the other animation/effect on the chest as well as the background assets.

Scene Assembly

This was simple as we were given a storyboard to show us how the scene would look. We were given some freedom in how some of the scenes would look but the key points still had to be the same like the chest beginning in the center. The camera was also something we had more freedom on, the storyboard the camera would just zoom in onto the chest. I had made my camera start with a top view, rotate and then stop in the center, pan and zoom for each crab, then finally zoom into the chest in the center.

Lighting

After the scene had been created all assets placed, textured and animated along with the camera, a simple Omni light was added to light up the scene as well as give shadows to the assets.

Rendering

Once all completed and look over to make sure everything worked, was in place and nothing was missing I started rendering. Making sure everything is correct before rendering is a big set as rendering can take a lot of time and finding out you missed something after the render is complete can be hell.

For this project, we had to render it out into separate frames as a .png before moving into Premiere for compositing and editing. This render took 03:17:37 to complete.

Compositing and Editing Video

Once all the images had been rendered out I moved everything into Adobe Premiere to add the final touch like sound, credits and transition effects before exporting it out into the final .mp4 video.

Week Four

Describe a highlight of the history of 3D Graphics with visual examples.

http://www.cgmeetup.net/home/making-of-cyberpunk-2077-by-platige-images/

3D scanning is one of the newest methods when it comes to modeling in high detail. 3D scanning allows us to now scan in an object from the real world into a digital 3d model which can allow for great detail and realism. Scanning a real person instead of modeling from an image. This process is faster but it has its drawbacks one is that scanned model can be too high in poly with limits the use of the scan in certain areas like games. Also, it isn’t perfect after the scan you are still most likely to have to clean the model remove piece that the scan got by accident.

However, in the end, this method creates awesome result just look at the making of the cyberpunk 2077 trailer which they used 3D scanning.

http://www.laserdesign.com/what-is-3d-scanning

Find and link to the blog of a practitioner who has contributed to a piece of work that inspires you. Show examples of their work and describe the details of their role on the project.

http://jeffestrabinio.blogspot.com.au/

Jefferson B. Estrabinio a Senior 3D Character Artist who has worked on many titles and his most recent The Division in which he created the 3D models as seen in the images here of the character. Jefferson uses sculpting as his main form modeling which gives him a lot of control in the digital of the characters he creates. In addition to that Jefferson also does other models in his spare time like this one of Goku.

Week Three

Lighting

http://www.3dartistonline.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/lighting_2.jpg

Lighting is very important in creating the scene as well as making the 3D object look more realistic, however before heavy into lighting do forget to get your shader done for the model, otherwise using a basic spotlight is good to just light up the scene. There are many different types of lighting in a 3d engine, point light which casts light outward in every direction from a single point in 3D space like light bulbs or candles. A directional light which casts a light in a direction from a point in 3D space like a son or moon, and much more like a spotlight, area light, volume light and ambient light. To use lights to get the best results there are 24 things you should keep in mind:

1. Observe how light works in the real world
2. Learn to read photographs
3. Get your shades ready first
4. Read photography magazines
5. Don’t be slave to photographic realism
6. Take the time to set up basic lighting
7. Start with the light that has the smallest effect first
8. Strip back and get your primary light right
9. Keep experimenting
10. Use contrast
11. Vary your colours
12. Build up a composition
13. Setting up your gamma
14. Don’t be afraid of dark areas
15. What you can’t see is as important as what you can
16. Remember off-camera lights
17. Use volumetric lighting
18. Introduce complexity to shadows
19. Break up the light
20. Using luminous polygons
21. Add dust particles floating in the air
22. Create colour effects
23. Adding fog
24. Post processing

http://3d.about.com/od/Creating-3D-The-CG-Pipeline/a/3d-Lighting-Techniques-Standard-3d-Lighting_2.htm

http://www.3dartistonline.com/news/2015/04/24-things-you-need-to-know-about-lighting/

Rendering

Rendering is the process of which the computer analyzes all the input variables such as animation, lighting, and colour in order to output a final image. In 3D applications like 3D max, it's the model, textures, set lighting and animate element in the scene which are rendered in an image. Each frame needs to do the same process when render which is way this is the most time-consuming part as each frame render time depends on what is on the scene so anywhere from minutes to hours like Zootopia which took up to 100 hours to render a single frame and as there are 24 frames a second or more depending on the settings used in the production.

http://rapideyedigital.com/blog/?p=883

http://io9.gizmodo.com/one-animal-in-zootopia-has-more-individual-hairs-than-e-1761542252

Compositing

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/ZD9IzY5jVs8/maxresdefault.jpg

Compositing is basically like taking different elements, images or footage and making them work together. In movies or 3d animation, compositing is the final stage in the process where you add in visual effects to complete the scene. There are many examples of composting like this video here:

When compositing there are different ways they are done in photos it’s an art of marrying pixels, and in 3d there are nodes. Nodes basically take the elements, images or footage and places them in individual nodes which you can then edit to create your final output.

http://wolfcrow.com/blog/what-is-compositing/

Week Two

UV Mapping

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/pK2EXIUHiQ8/maxresdefault.jpg

UV Mapping is like peeling the skin off a modeling and placing it onto a 2d canvas also known as the UV canvas. The UV canvas is a 2d plane that uses X = U and Y = V to project textures onto a model, the reason for UV Mapping a model before texturing is so that the texture placed onto the model isn’t a planar texture which creates bad look textures unless the object is a 2d plane.

Texturing and Shaders

Texturing is used to turn the model's surface or faces you have created to resemble something in real life and to do that you use texture mapping. It like how you would wrap a present in decorative paper first cutting the paper to fit the object which is UV Mapping and then sticking it on. The same is for texturing a model first you need to get your UV map and from there you can paint onto it using photoshop or other software to create your own style or something resembling a real world object.

Shaders are something that is used along with textures to give your model extra detail or a particular look. Shaders are used for how the light might reflect off the model's surface, how it is absorbed, translucency or bump maps.

Using these shaders you are able to create more detail onto an object without adding the extra vertex, edges or faces, like the image above it is using a bump map to give the illusion of depth onto a flat surface. Other maps are used for different results like transparency maps, normal maps, specular maps and more.

http://blog.digitaltutors.com/cover-bases-common-3d-texturing-terminology/

Rigging

http://www.ronald-fong.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Rigging-For-Animation-1030x559.jpg

Before a model is handed over to a team of animators to animate the object or character, it first needs to be bound to a system of joints, bones and control handles so that the animators can move the 3d mesh into the position they need. A rig is basically a digital version of our own skeleton which is made up of joints and bones which move certain sections of the model.

https://cdn.tutsplus.com/cg/uploads/legacy/424_Blender_Rigging_LP_Characters/52a.jpg

In addition to just have the joints and bones you need to also paint the weight which is saying how much a certain joint or bone would move a part of the model, this is important so you don't have a leg bone moving the foot or hip, making it harder to position the model correct for animating.

http://3d.about.com/od/Creating-3D-The-CG-Pipeline/a/What-Is-Rigging.htm

Animation

http://assets.digitaltutors.com/dtv_/bison_courses/1376/assets/1376-render_1040.jpg

Long before 3d software, movies or games animation has been used. In the days when Disney was starting up animation was done by drawing out each frame of an animation and then going through the editing process to make those frame play. Back then animating a 2-minute animation in 24 frames per seconds meant there was 2880 drawing that had to be done, with Disney having a large work staff it didn’t take as long.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Gertie_the_dinosaur_standing_on_a_cliff_edge_looking_at_a_mastodon_frame.jpg

Unlike a 12 minute animation called Gertie the Dinosaur created by Winsor McCay which took him nearly 2 years and over 25, 000 drawing all done by hand and himself.

However, these days animation has grown and become a lot easier thanks to the new software like Flash and 3ds Max. Animating in something like 3ds Max uses the same principle as old style animation with keyframes just done a lot easier and quicker with rigs that allow you to move the model into the key poses faster than drawing them. Plus with the new technology of motion capture allow us to capture our own body movements to make the rig follow along.

http://history-of-animation.webflow.io/

Week One

Pre-production

In the digital industry like film, games and animation there are three stages of production, first being pre-production where the idea of the product or animation is setup in detail to create a road map of the production process. These include the idea, story, storyboard, animatic and design, once these steps are completed, the next stage begins production.

In the production stage, the process of the animation begins and is mostly the longest stage as everything from the pre-production is now being created from the layout, R&D, models, textures, rigging/setup, animation, VFX, lighting, and rendering. But as the animation production continues things can change in order to fit the story or clients idea, so sometimes if an animation isn’t working in a certain scene they would go back to the layout to make changes and this is done with a lot of the steps, which is the reason why the production stage takes the longer to complete.

However once this is all done the final stage post-production beginning, mostly as editing everything from the render. Compositing, 2d VFX/motion graphics, color correction and lastly final output.

http://www.slideshare.net/Veetildigital/pre-productionpost-process-in-3d-animation

3D Modeling

https://10dollarwp.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/3dmodelling.jpg

Modeling is the process of taking an object like a box or the car above and molding it into a 3D mesh. The basis of modeling starts with a single point that is placed in a location in the X,Y and Z, these points are called vertex. Adding in another vertex you are then able to connect them creating a two-dimensional line or an edge, adding a third vertex you then create a three-dimensional object called a face or polygon. Using these you are then able to create objects like the car above. However in modeling there are different ways you can go about modeling an object:

1. Spline or Patch modeling
2. Box modeling
3. Poly modeling/edge extrusion

Using these different methods make it's easier when creating a certain object like a building, barrel or character for an animation.

As well as modeling, 3D sculpting is used to create high detailed models that would normally be too different to do using the modeling methods above, using sculpting software like Zbrush you can create high detail 3d models faster and convert them into a 3d mesh which can then be rigging and animated.

http://www.animationarena.com/introduction-to-3d-modeling.html