The Arts Test (3D) - BA1B

Today we were set a brief, something to see how we are getting on. The brief contained a video game character which needed to be created, 1500 Tri-count along with a maximum of 512x512 pixel texture map. Knowing this was going to be very low resolution I set off with a idea of cel-shaded or just simple coloring ideas. The idea behind the limitations was something simplistic but allowed for many different variations. I went along with the idea of a mimic chest. It was one of the first things that came to mind as I'd seen it very LP in the game Banjo Kazooie.

The initial model came out at a count of 1336 Tris, which to me was the perfect amount for both the level of detail needed but also for the UV and texturing to be easy enough. The picture shown below is of the model itself front and back which shows how basic yet effective it is.

Having such a low budget allowance on everything including the texturing was going to be hard, the UV itself was easy enough for me to complete. I chose to only leave the model in Maya and the Final render in this blog post as the other components are necessary for the marker/marquee. I believe the product ended up being exactly what I wanted and done to the best of my ability (for the time it was at/beginner level).

I believe the art project turned out well and if I was to do it again it wouldn't be as much of a challenge. It taught me a lot and happy with everything.

3D Materials and Textures

Texturing and creating materials to go over 3D objects is one mandatory field needed to complete a 3D model. The way we normally paint/create materials for these models it by using the UV map and painting over that, but as technology has progressed we now have programs which allow us to paint straight onto the object itself.

The point of texturing a model is to give it a life-like feel as well as someone being able to determine what it is easier. Not only that but if every model was grey it would be hard to differentiate which is an object and which is the end of the map or area. The way we used this process was by adding our object into substance painter, baking over the top of it with our HP & Cage models and then working on it from there. We first started with the barrel which turned out a success from the beginning as we were shown how to do everything in that session (shown below).

Our barrier on the other hand was to be made by ourselves and as a test to see what we learnt from the session. Shown below is the image of my final damaged barrier with concrete dents, correct lighting and different shadings of grey to showcase indents. It gives off the form of a HP model but is only around 1500 polygons. Using the cage, HP & LP model I was able to create these textures and materials within 50 minutes.

The way in-which these have been made are completely different to each other. I tried to learn two different styles to allow myself to understand the program better. The same I did with Maya and Adobe Photoshop, it helps me understand the programs. I chose to do a plane idea for the barrel, simple colors and a image, where-as for the barrier I wanted high detail/realism to see the difference even thought they're both around 1500 in tri-count.

3D Baking

The concept behind baking is taking a texture map of a high Polly (HP) model and wrapping it around a low Polly (LP) model creating detail but not doubling the tri-count. This can be done with any two models that are the same, the reason I chose a HP and LP model was because we had to get this done for a test, so it is easier to explain. In other words, you would 'bake' all the textures and apply them to the surface of another model to create a texture.

When creating the barrier & barrel we created both a low tri-count and high tri-count model. This gave us a chance to learn how to bake and then give it a try for ourselves. The involvement of the high Polly model is so that it can be used to create a high definition texture to be wrapped around the low Polly model. This can be done many ways but all end up with the same end product.

(LP barrier failed first version)

The way we done the barrel is explained exactly how we done it, by creating a low-Polly and high-Polly model and wrapping the texture. The barrier on the other hand was a little bit more troublesome. The way we created the barrier was called 're-topology'. The way this works is by taking a high-Polly model, creating a layer around it and drawing on the wire frame/faces ourselves. This did take some time, and yes I did manage to fail at my first attempt (learning curve). The second time I tried to create the correct wire frame it came out perfectly. After creating it we put all the faces together which turned out to be the low-Polly barrier. The images below are of both the HP & LP barriers.

(LP barrier)

(HP barrier)

As you can see, there is a clear difference between the two but one allows for more detail rather than the other. I attempted to put in a good amount of detail on the parts needed, but the bake normally would take over and create most of the detail itself anyway. We then created a 'cage' which in retrospect allowed for a smoother and cleaner bake, is a way of making the render look more clean with hard edges. The way you use a cage is by grabbing the LP model and making it bigger than your original LP which determines how far the rays from automatic UV will cast. It's normally used for control and clean edges, some people find it tedious and unnecessary but for this part we were being taught it in-case it was needed in future reference.

(LP cage)

After doing this your model is ready to be put into a texture program such as substance painter to be properly painted and textured.

3D UV Mapping

The concept behind UV mapping is to deform a 3D object and making it into a plane 2D flat face. This allows textures to be taken and placed/painted on the 3D object easily.

When painting over the 2D planes they then wrap themselves around the 3D object to give off the impression that the 3D model has been textured and painted onto it whilst keeping maximum amounts of detail. There can be many different ways of using the UV feature in 3D, one being it allows you to manually choose where you want to UV and place the cameras exact to that. If you want to do it a faster and easier way there is a automatic option which does it all for you and allows you to be able to connect the different planes at a faster rate.

My barrel itself was automatically UV mapped and I used this to create the base UV for it. On doing this I then inserted a cut into one of the edges around the cylindrical shapes to allow it to unfold properly. Doing so allows me to be able to open up the cylindrical shape and texture over the top of this.

Image UVs done by Automatic UV and then cutting the cylindrical shapes down (Barrel)

Before automatic UV (Barrier)

After Automatic UV (Barrier)

The process used here allowed for me to be quick and efficient, allowing me to complete my UV mapping within minutes. Using this method allows for a industry standard way of thinking whilst also allowing the pressure of time consumption to be minimized.

My personal experience using Csikszentmihalyi's theory of Flow

For this experiment I chose to do something that is engaging and actually interests me, I chose to play Resident Evil 7: Bio-hazard as it has its difficulties and it's scare-factor. The game resides itself around the fear of losing a close one and fighting for their live, putting your own at risk. This game is based around its stress, fear and lack of respect to a sensitive audience.

My first impression on the game when setting out to play it (Without the help of tutorials, I choose never to use them as they ruin the immersion/feel of the game) was to grab what little I knew of the controls and attempting to understand the story. At first glance I was immediately hooked by the call of a girl (who we later find out to be the girlfriend of our character) telling us she is leaving her baby-sitting job and readying to head back home. During which she never makes it back, thus the main protagonist (i.e. the main character/playable character) follows to find her. During this experience I found myself in the character, doing anything he can for his loved ones allowing me to feel at the same level as the character. During this state, I was immersed to the point that I felt as if I was the character, feeling the same amount of stress, allowing myself to get into that state. I tend to do this with games and realised that there was a state of 'flow' based around this.

Csikszentmihalyi's theory of 'flow' in games allows for people to get a better understanding on what type of games they prefer to play and whether boredom takes a toll in every game. The idea is that the state of flow resides in between the stress of a game and being bored of a game. My understanding of this became surreal after playing this game because at every time in the game I could pin-point where I sat on the scale, making his theory almost 100% correct.